Mark Hunt recently appeared on The MMA Hour, slamming UFC 200 opponent Brock Lesnar and accusing UFC of not doing more to prevent PED usage.
Hunt implied UFC might have known about Lesnar’s test results but still allowed him to fight. Hunt said (transcription courtesy of ESPN):
“What upsets me about that is, I’m just thinking maybe they knew. Did they know about this? Is that why they’re not doing anything about it? Did they give this f—ing fool an exemption for four months because they knew about this? Because surely if they know about this, they don’t give a rat’s about any of us.
‘Hey man, we’ll let this juiced up freaking monkey go in here and fight with this guy.’ I mean, shucks, people say [I] should have a rematch with him. I wouldn’t want to waste my time with that. He’s rubbish.”
Related: TMZ Reports WWE Will Not Suspend Brock Lesnar & Reveals Reason Why
Hunt said more should be done to athletes that test positive for PEDs in the sport, claiming the penalties should be harsh and should be both have financial and legal ramifications:
“The best outcome is if the company that I work for says, ‘you’ve been cheating, you lose all your [fight earnings] and since it was cheating, you get fined.’ You get sued and you get a fine. You’re going straight to court, criminal court, because what you’ve done is an offense.’ That’s what I want done. So that these guys who are cheating don’t have more incentive to do it, because they do it for financial gain. If you take all that away, they get nothing.
“Make them banned for five or 10 years. There goes your career. Five, 10 years, you have no career left and not only that, you lose all of your money. You’re done as a fighter. That’ll stop you from doing it. That’s what I want to see done. I won’t be part of a company who says ‘we don’t mind you cheating or doing this or that,’ otherwise then every monkey will be [cheating].”
According to ESPN.com, a UFC official informed them that UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky had “a lengthy conversation with Hunt” Monday and the conversation was to “address Hunt’s concerns with Lesnar’s potential anti-doping violation, as well as the results management process related to the case.” The official also denied any knowledge of Lesnar’s potential violation prior to July 9th. Lesnar reportedly tested positive for clomiphene, an anti-estrogen.
