It appears that Mark Hunt’s issues with the UFC have been tided over enough for him to accept a fight. According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Hunt will likely return to the Octagon in March, and will be facing a familiar foe – Alistair Overeem.
BREAKING: Verbal agreements in place for Mark Hunt vs. Alistair Overeem at UFC 209 on March 4 in Las Vegas, per UFC.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 21, 2016
Hunt (12-10-1, 1 NC, 7-4-1, 1 NC UFC) last competed at UFC 200, where he dropped a listless unanimous decision to the returning Brock Lesnar. Lesnar popped for an illegal substance though, and after a long commission process, the bout was recently flipped to a No Contest when Lesnar was suspended for a year. This apparently was enough for Hunt to put aside his concerns with constantly fighting “juicers” and get back into the Octagon.
Overeem (41-15, 1 NC, 6-4 UFC) is coming a loss in his first UFC title fight, where he was stopped by heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic late in the first round of their UFC 203 headliner.
The two men have competed against each other, almost a decade ago in Japan. At Dream 5, Overeem submitted Hunt with an americana in just 71 seconds in July 2008.
UFC 209 goes down on March 4th in Las Vegas. The card does not have a main event as of yet.
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