Brock Lesnar has been cleared of fraud and battery charges brought against him by his former UFC heavyweight rival Mark Hunt.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Hunt wasn’t able to sue the UFC, its CEO Dana White, and Lesnar, after he accused the promotion of allowing doping.
Lesnar fought Hunt at UFC 200 – his last ever appearance in the Octagon – and beat the New Zealander via unanimous decision, but the fight was ruled a no contest six days later when the former tested positive for a banned substance.
The 47-year-old was subsequently fined £188,000 ($250,000) and suspended from the UFC for 12 months.
He retired from pro MMA not long after and returned to his career as a WWE Superstar where he remains, although currently inactive, to date.
Hunt, 51, had sued the UFC, White and Lesnar based on alleged fraudulent business dealings, saying they ‘circumvented and obstructed fair competition for their own benefit, including being complicit in doping proliferation’.
He claimed 55-year-old White knew that Lesnar was doping ahead of their huge UFC 200 fight, and this led to him suffering a ‘severe physical injury,’ while also damaging his ‘future earning capacity’ in terms of his reputation and likeliness of fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.
The initial lawsuit was dismissed in January 2022 and the United States District Court in Nevada ordered Hunt to pay £573,000 ($690,000) in legal fees to the UFC.
However, charges were brought back as Hunt then claimed fraud and battery from the UFC and Lesnar.
US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey said the plaintiff, Hunt, had provided a lack of evidence to support his theories when detailing her ruling.
A three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit added: “Unfortunately, Hunt does not point to any evidence in the record of any physical, emotional, economic, or reputational damage or harm attributable to Defendants-Appellees’ conduct.
“Indeed, while maintaining that such evidence does in fact exist, Hunt acknowledged both in his reply brief and at argument that evidence of damages has not yet been ‘adequately presented.’”
Hunt competed in the UFC for eight years from 2010, contesting for heavyweight gold on his ninth bout in the promotion.
After clocking up five wins in his first eight bouts with one draw, Hunt was knocked out by Fabricio Werdum in his one and only title fight at UFC 180 in November 2014.
‘The Super Samoan’ made his name as the smaller guy who knocked out some of the best heavyweights in MMA history like Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, and Derrick Lewis.
Hunt is now retired from MMA and is remembered for his famous KO wins.
In December 2020, he put on the heavier gloves and transitioned into the sport of boxing.
He lost his first fight via unanimous decision to former Australian pro boxer and rugby league player Paul Gallen in a six-round bout in Sydney.
Two years later, however, he scored a massive upset over Sonny Bill Williams, stopping the All Blacks rugby legend to hand him his first taste of defeat since transitioning to professional boxing.
Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC wasn’t the first time he had struck out at his former promotion.
In March 2023, the MMA legend took aim at the company and heavyweight champion Jon Jones before he submitted Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
“The UFC heavyweight champion of the world ladies and gentlemen,” he wrote on Facebook.
“There you have it, a cheating steroid rat who runs into pregnant women and runs off a rat that hides under the octagon for 10 hours hiding from being tested for drugs.
“This is your UFC heavyweight champion this is the rat you need to look up to, this is the rat we promote please be upstanding and raise your glass to a company that has zero credibility.
“Worthless belt worthless champion and even more worthless rip off company. Any other sport this loser wouldn’t be here that’s why UFC have no credibility because they promote this garbage.”
