It didn't take long for the war of words between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt to go from professionally combative to personal.
Hunt, speaking to UFC Fight Week on Fox Sports, accused Lesnar of being on steroids and bemoaned the drug-testing exemption given to his UFC 200 opponent.
“I don’t think it’s a great move," Hunt said. "I think he’s juiced to the gills—and I still think I’m going to knock him out. So I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t think he should be allowed to get a four-month exemption otherwise everyone else should. Otherwise I should start juicing."
Lesnar, 38, was announced for the UFC 200 card last Saturday. He has not fought for the promotion since losing to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, nearly five years ago. Under typical circumstances, UFC requires a fourth-month notification of a fighter's planned return to the ring.
Lesnar only officially signed his contract last week and was thus not subject to UFC's testing requirements. He entered protocol Monday, but that left only a little more than a month for Lesnar to be in UFC's testing program. UFC granted Lesnar a waiver because his previous run with the company came before the policy came into effect.
"As part of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete," UFC said in a statement to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
Hunt was dissatisfied with the explanation.
“I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s load of bulls--t, I think it’s rubbish,” Hunt said. “I don’t think anyone should be exempt from testing. If they’re trying to clean the sport up—mixed martial arts—this is a bad way to do it. I don’t care who you are. It’s ridiculous."
Lesnar, who remains under contract with WWE, has been under the sports-entertainment giant's testing policy since his 2012 return. Substance abuse and performance-enhancing drugs are encompassed in that policy. WWE's full testing policies are not public, so it is unclear what exactly the company tests for.
“I’ve already voiced my opinion to (UFC boss) Dana (White) about it but apparently he (Lesnar) has been getting tested, but he’s probably been off a couple of cycles anyway," Hunt said.
Lesnar was 5-3 in his MMA career, though he dealt with severe diverticulitis during his UFC run. He underwent surgery that required 12 inches of his colon be removed after losing to Overeem.
Hunt, 42, is coming off a first-round knockout of Frank Mir. He's won his last two fights, bringing his career record to 12-10-1 overall. UFC ranks him as its No. 8 heavyweight, and he's one of the strongest punchers in the sport.
While it's clear Lesnar's the big money draw here, Hunt's clearly using this as an opportunity to make a name for himself. Whether he believes Lesnar's clean, dirty or what—he's creating headlines ahead of the biggest fight of his life.
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