This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Mark Hunt Turns 42

Few martial artists have enjoyed more satisfying careers than that of Mark Hunt. Still going strong, “The Super Samoan” will celebrate his 42nd birthday on March 23.

The 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner first appeared on the MMA scene in Pride Fighting Championships, where he won five of his first six bouts -- a run of sustained success that included victories over Mirko Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva. Hunt then endured a six-fight losing streak that had his career on the brink, the New Zealand native hitting rock bottom with a submission loss to Sean McCorkle on Sept. 25, 2010. From there, he authored one of the great comeback stories in the sport’s history. Wins over Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve followed, as Hunt emerged as the unlikeliest of contenders in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division. He has gone 2-3-1 since, though his losses have come to Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic.

Hunt last appeared at UFC 193, where he blitzed Antonio Silva with first-round punches in their rematch. He will return to the cage against former champion Frank Mir on March 20, when the two men collide atop UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia.

Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of March:

MARCH 1

Taisuke Okuno (39)
Danielle West (39)
Anthony Njokuani (36)
Dominique Robinson (34)
John Howard (33)
Thanh Vu (24)
Aspen Ladd (21)
Sage Northcutt (20)

MARCH 2

Heath Herring (38)
Lorenzo Hood (27)

MARCH 3

Rob Broughton (33)
Augusto Mendes (33)
Renato Velame (33)
Richard White (29)
Rodrigo Goiana de Lima (25)
Nikita Krylov (24)

MARCH 4

Abe Wagner (36)

MARCH 5

Tim Sylvia (40)
Chris Cope (33)
Ericka Almeida (27)

MARCH 6

Tsuyoshi Kosaka (46)
Anthony Johnson (32)
Brandon Girtz (31)

MARCH 7

Eun-Su Lee (34)
Xavier Foupa-Pokam (34)
Steve Kennedy (33)
Joe Merritt (32)

MARCH 8

Marlon Sandro (39)
Eddie Ng (30)

MARCH 9

Jun Nakamura (32)
Koji Ando (31)

MARCH 10

Sean Pierson (40)
Wilson Gouveia (38)
Vitor Miranda (37)
Jesse Lennox (34)
Lipeng Zhang (26)
Clay Collard (23)

MARCH 11

Renzo Gracie (49)
Rodrigo Gracie (41)
Sako Chivitchyan (32)
Livia Renata Souza (25)

MARCH 12

Alexis Vila (45)
Ricky Musgrave (32)
Rad Martinez (29)

MARCH 13

Kazuo Takahashi (47)
George Sullivan (35)
Justin Salas (34)
Nam Phan (33)

MARCH 14

Kiyotaka Shimizu (32)
“Judo” Jim Wallhead (32)

MARCH 15

Norifumi Yamamoto (39)
Travis Wiuff (38)
Juliana Lima (34)

MARCH 16

Shawn Tompkins (1974-2011)
Brad Imes (39)
Josh Pulsifer (33)
Vanessa Porto (32)
Antonio Carlos Jr. (26)
Aaron Roberson (26)

MARCH 17

Antoine Hayes (40)
Fabio Maldonado (36)
Bae Yong Kwon (35)
Chan Sung Jung (29)
Jose Flores (28)
Jamie Moyle (27)

MARCH 18

Nate Quarry (44)
Kyle Noke (36)
Brendan Schaub (33)

MARCH 19

Shawn Bunch (33)
Ryuichi Miki (33)
Baga Agaev (31)
Jake Norsworthy (26)

MARCH 20

Daniel Cormier (37)
Rogent Lloret (37)
Robbie Lawler (34)
John Moraga (32)
Goran Reljic (32)
Jingliang Li (28)
Aya Saber (25)

MARCH 21

Rony Mariano Bezerra (32)
John Salter (31)

MARCH 22

Andre Pederneiras (49)
Jamal Patterson (42)
Kyle Kingsbury (34)
Joe Soto (29)

MARCH 23

Mark Hunt (42)
Mukai Maromo (33)
Yuri Villefort (25)

MARCH 24

Josh Neer (33)

MARCH 25

Rory Markham (34)
Besam Yousef (31)
Steven Ray (26)

MARCH 26

Bor Bratovz (34)
Paige VanZant (22)

MARCH 27

Nuri Shakir (37)
Indalecio Tat Romero (36)
Matt Jaggers (31)
Alptekin Ozkilic (30)

MARCH 28

Jake Ellenberger (31)
Joe Ellenberger (31)

MARCH 29

Donald Cerrone (33)
Stephen Eakin (33)
Chase Beebe (31)
Jesse Chaffin (27)

MARCH 30

Bibiano Fernandes (36)
Melvin Guillard (33)
Rasul Mirzaev (30)
Dan Lauzon (28)

MARCH 31

Naoya Ogawa (48)
Reese Andy (43)
Rich Clementi (40)
James Zikic (39)
Mike Kyle (36)
Marloes Coenen (35)
Ayaka Hamasaki (34)
Fabio Silva (34)
Richardson Moreira (32)
David Parker (31)
Frank Gomez (30)
Terrion Ware (30)