Contributor: Benjamin Kohn
In just 3 short days, the fight everyone has been waiting for will finally go down. After a tense period in which Mark Hunt could not get a visa to fly to the US, and Roy Nelson may have had to step in for another beatdown at the hands of JDS, the MMA gods mercifully decided to let us have this one. Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt, K-1 GP HW champion and all around badass will go head-to-head against the former UFC HW champion and all around badass Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos in a fight that can end up being one of the best of the year if not all friggin time!
As I am sure you can all tell from my previous Mark Hunt breakdown, Mark Hunt fucking rocks and should be named President of Earth. That being said, we all know what his strengths and weaknesses are as a fighter. He is a short and stocky HW that has immense power, a chin made of dolomite (RIP Futurama), and more swag than everyone at the VMAs can even dream of. His striking is obviously his deadliest weapon and despite his 265 pound frame, he moves deceptively fast and can blast you out of nowhere putting you to sleep for a while. His weakness as a fighter is obviously his ground game and always has been. Mark however has been working diligently on improving his grappling and it has definitely helped him out. His last fight against Stefan Struve showed that he has the ability to survive extended periods of time on the ground against a good submission fighter (let’s forget that one time he pulled Struve into mount). Mark’s chances of beating Dos Santos lie solely on this fight remaining on the feet and that completely lies on where Dos Santos wants to fight.
Junior Dos Santos’ best weapon is his lethal boxing. He darts in and out of slower and more plodding HW’s blasting them with quick and powerful punches to the body and head until nothing is left but a bloody and beaten mess at the end of the fight (see Shane Carwin fight). Dos Santos has something that most strikers would kill to have, incredible TDD. Taking and keeping Junior down is harder to do than catching the greased up deaf guy from Family Guy. Throw in his blackbelt in BJJ and you have a fighter that is near impossible to beat. Did I also mention his chin is insanely good? The only man to beat him at the highest level of competition was the current champion Cain Velasquez and Cain’s skillset is completely different from Hunt’s so looking at that fight will not show much for us in the “strategies Mark Hunt can use” department. Junior also has shown darn good offensive wrestling when needed as he took down massive HW and 3 time D2 All-American, 2 time runner up, and 1 time D2 champion Shane Carwin with ease. Junior has stated that he thinks he can knock Hunt out and for the sake of us fans, I sure as hell hope he tries to do so on the feet.
Striking: I will begin by breaking down the striking of Mark Hunt, than Junior, and then I will match them up together to make three separate parts.
Mark Hunt: The style of striking Mark Hunt employs is very simple. He has more power than his opponent and a better chin as well. He knows he can take your punches and you can’t take his. This allows him to strike without fear and that is a huge advantage at HW. Mark Hunt’s favorite combination and one that he used to great effect against Struve is the cross-counter right hand over a jab followed by his ridiculously powerful left hook (sometimes leaping). He used this to initially rock Struve as well
as in the finishing sequence and works extremely well for someone like him who will almost always be at a height and reach disadvantage. Mark also has a pretty decent jab to boot although he usually gets hit when he throws it because head movement is too much of a hassle for a boss like Hunt. While not known as a kicker, Mark has shown to have a pretty good kicking game when he feels like using it but he mostly employs his cinderblock fists to KO his opponents. Against another striker in Cheick Kongo, Mark Hunt used his signature cross-counter right and left hook to finish the French striker in the first round (although he rocked him exclusively with the left, the cross-counter was used throughout the short fight whenever Cheick would jab him). Mark Hunt knows JDS needs to stand with him in order for him to have a shot and assuming he does, let’s break down JDS’ striking game.
Junior Dos Santos: Junior is a fast, agile, mobile, and extremely powerful striker. He uses quick hooks to blast his generally slower opponents and dart out of danger before his opponents can strike back. His attacking style includes a steady stream of jabs and straights to the body in order to get his opponent to drop their hands and then attempts to fire an overhand right before they can retrieve their defenses. His style uses a straight, darting forward attack, generally without many angles. He is an absolutely fantastic offensive boxer and no HW has been able to withstand his onslaught of ferocious boxing (aside from Cain in the rematch). His defense however does leave much to be desired. He carries his hands rather low and is definitely a hittable target. He trusts his chin to hold up (and it definitely has) which definitely can be a liability should he choose to stand with the great and powerful Hunto. Junior will also generally not kick, though when he does, it hurts. He has also shown susceptibility to 
kicks and in his fight with Mir, who is slower than the average Floridian driver, was able to land kicks whenever he threw them. Against Hunt, this could be a mistake as Hunt kicks hard as shit. His biggest flaw and the one upon which this fight will decide upon is his lazy jab. Whenever backing up, JDS will throw a lazy, half-hearted jab to keep at a distance from his opponent. This is the exact punch that got him floored against Cain Velasquez in their rematch.
How they match up: Junior has the speed and athleticism advantage as his power and chin are near, if not at the same level as Hunt (ok probably not the same but they are both incredible). He seems to have all the tools on the feet to calmly outbox Hunt en route to an easy, possibly completely lopsided decision. The game changer for me is the lazy jab he ALMOST ALWAYS throws when backing up. Hunt’s favorite technique is the cross-counter right over the taller man’s jab. He has floored and KO’d multiple fighters with this technique and a follow up left hook would spell doom for pretty much any species known to man. For God’s sake, he broke Struve’s jaw with that combo! Junior showing he doesn’t mind taking a shot combined with lazy jab and extreme confidence in his striking could really screw him over here and I think that it will bite him in the ass badly. Edge goes to MARKU HUNTO!!!!
Wrestling and Grappling: This is pretty straightforward to be honest. JDS is the better wrestler, both offensively and defensively. Mark Hunt’s TDD has improved immensely though as well as his grappling awareness. I don’t think that JDS will shoot as he feels he has something to prove on the feet but if he does, he hasn’t really shown much in the way of offensive submission ability in the little time he has spent on the ground. In fact Shane Carwin nearly submitted him on the ground after being ground into pulp for nearly 15 minutes. Should the fight end up on the ground, Junior should ground and pound Mark and wear him down for when they return to the feet. Edge is strongly in favor of Junior.
Cardio: The last major factor that will matter in this fight is cardiovascular endurance. Neither of these guys are cardio machines but JDS will definitely have the advantage in this department. Hunt definitely has a tendency to tire, generally near the mid-point of the second round, and sometimes earlier. This can play a big factor as JDS usually doesn’t tire until about the 
third round and usually after beating up on iron chinned HW’s for the two previous rounds. Against Cain he definitely slowed down but was still fighting back the entire time which is incredible to say the least. Mark however has shown that even late in the fight when tired, he can put you out hard and that is also incredible. Because Mark’s style involves quick explosions of strikes, he can still attack with these when gassed out which makes him dangerous no matter how late in the fight it is. The edge still definitely goes to Junior here though.
Bottom Line: This is Junior’s fight to lose really. He should immediately work to ground Hunt and not take any risks but that doesn’t seem to be Junior’s style and that’s why he is beloved by fans. He wants to put on a show with Mark Hunt and I think they will put on one hell of a show for us. I can see this going a few ways on the feet. JDS batters Hunt for 3 rounds and wins a decision (I don’t see him finishing Mark). Mark knocks out JDS in the first because MARKU HUNTO. The other scenario I see is Hunt 
winning the first, winning the second early but tiring and JDS takes over, and JDS winning the third causing a decision that will piss people off regardless. However I am going with my heart (as always in a Mark Hunt fight) and predicting MARKU HUNTO BY KO ROUND 1!!!!!
-Ben can be reached @agentbenten or [email protected]
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