Mark Hunt after UFC Fight Night 110: I'm not retiring, and Alistair Overeem is still a 'cheating bum'

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Any ambiguity left by heavyweight Mark Hunt’s post-fight speech at UFC Fight Night 110 was batted away afterward at the press conference.

Hunt said he fully plans on fighting out his current UFC contract, which he told MMAjunkie has three bouts remaining.

“I don’t think so,” Hunt, 43, said after being asked whether he was thinking about hanging up his gloves. “I like to get beat up. Shucks, there’s nothing else I’m good at. But I’ve got a couple of fights I want to finish. Why not see the contract out and then retire?”

In an FS1-televised headliner at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Hunt checked off another obligation by outlasting Derrick Lewis (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC). Chasing the American around the octagon, New Zealand native Hunt (13-11-1 MMA, 8-5-1 UFC) battered the the surging heavyweight until he capitulated in the fourth round.

Afterward, Hunt made it sound like all options were on the table for his career, including retirement.

“I’ve only got a few more fights left, so for me, if it ended here tonight, so be it,” he said in the octagon. “I’ve had a good run. I’ve had a lot of fun, traveled the world. But it looks like it’s still continuing.”

Hunt got back in the win column after a third-round KO loss to Alistair Overeem, which renewed his fiery passion against performance-enhancing drug users.

“He’s always going to be a cheating bum to me, regardless of whether he beat me,” Hunt said Saturday at the post-fight presser. “All of his achievements, you don’t know whether they’re done by steroids or not. Sorry, Alistair, you’re a cheat.”

Still in the midst of a court battle with the UFC over a pair of failed tests by Brock Lesnar at UFC 200, Hunt remains outspoken about the problem of doping in MMA and used his post-fight speech to decry cheaters.

Asked what he would do to clean up the sport, Hunt indicated that noted anti-doping figure and UFC VP of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky could do more toward that goal. There’s that and hitting doping offenders where it counts.

“I think taking away the financial gains to start with,” Hunt said. “People say for me, it’s just a money grab. I think if you take away the financial incentive, then the cheaters will think twice. You take away the money, they wouldn’t do it. It’s just a clause in the contract saying the cheater doesn’t benefit at all. Because right now, it pays to cheat.”

Hunt went to court, in part, to get the UFC to change the way it punishes doping offenders, despite the promotion’s industry-leading anti-doping program led by USADA. Hunt at one point refused to fight Overeem unless new language was inserted in his contract protecting him against financial losses and punishing Overeem in the event of a failed drug test.

Hunt, via his attorneys, contend the UFC and Lesnar conspired to allow Lesnar to dope. The case is now active in Nevada District Court.

The looming legal cloud and Hunt’s ongoing feud against cheaters created the impression he could leave the octagon sooner than later. That isn’t the case, though. He’s got a few more trips to the octagon.

The stakes still remain high for his crusade, however. Hunt said it’s necessary to make the punishments tougher “before someone dies.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 110, check out the UFC Events section of the site.