Sherdog’s Top 10: Late Bloomers

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3. Mark Hunt

A 40-year-old Hunt in is finally fulfilling expectations many laid out for him 10 years prior when the heavyweight transitioned from kickboxing to MMA.

Hunt first made a name for himself by winning the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix as a fairly big underdog. His initial foray into MMA was an accident, taking a fight on short notice and replacing Kazushi Sakuraba against Wanderlei Silva at one of Pride Fighting Championships’ annual New Year’s Eve cards. In the end, Hunt shocked the world and won a controversial split decision, handing Silva his first loss in the promotion. One year later, Hunt bested Mirko Filipovic with another decision victory. Following one more win, things began to spiral downward. Over the course of the next four years, Hunt lost six consecutive bouts, almost exclusively by submission. It began when Hunt was submitted in two minutes by Josh Barnett -- a loss that was followed by a heavyweight title opportunity against Fedor Emelianenko. The Kiwi put up a decent fight against “The Last Emperor” before eventually submitting to a kimura. He went on to lose to Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef and Gegard Mousasi before arriving in the UFC.

The UFC acquired Hunt’s contract when it purchased Pride in 2007. His Zuffa debut -- a 79-second submission loss to Sean McCorkle -- preceded an unlikely run of success that would put him at the forefront of the organization’s heavyweight division. He knocked out Chris Tuchscherer and Cheick Kongo before winning a decision from Ben Rothwell and brutally finishing Stefan Struve. This led to a title eliminator against Junior dos Santos in which “The Super Samoan” fought valiantly before being knocked out by “Cigano” late in the fight. In the end, Hunt may be defined by his bloody, five-round brawl with Antonio Silva in Australia in December. Words do not do a fight like that justice, but it exemplified the style, heart and power Hunt possesses.

Number 2 » Chael Sonnen