Love him or hate him, former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (5-3) will be a huge draw against Mark Hunt (12-10-1) in the co-main event at UFC 200 in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Despite not entering the Octagon in nearly five years, Lesnar is listed as only a small +140 underdog (bet $100 to win $140) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
The 38-year-old WWE star returned to the world of wrestling following his last loss to Alistair Overeem via first-round TKO at UFC 141 on December 30, 2011. He also suffered from diverticulitis, a digestive disease that played a role in his retirement from MMA.
Lesnar originally became the UFC heavyweight champion with a second-round TKO of Randy Couture at UFC 91 in 2008 and had the same result versus Frank Mir when they headlined UFC 100 the following year.
He defended the title one more time against Shane Carwin with a second-round submission victory via arm-triangle choke before falling to Cain Velasquez by first-round TKO at UFC 121 in October of 2010.
Hunt’s overall record is not much better, although he too has been a crowd favorite due to his heavy hands, which have led to nine knockout wins among his 12 overall. In fact, his last five fights have all been decided by KO or TKO, with him winning three of them.
Hunt’s first-round KO of Mir at UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia, on March 20 earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. The 42-year-old New Zealander’s last three losses have all come against opponents who have won the heavyweight title belt.
Despite being four years older and five inches shorter and giving up a sizable reach advantage (seven inches), Hunt is a -170 favorite (bet $170 to win $100), according to oddsmakers for UFC 200.
He has obviously been more active than Lesnar, with nine UFC bouts since Lesnar last fought in the organization. Knocking out bigger men has not been a problem for Hunt recently and probably will not be a problem here unless he gets caught with a surprise shot. Mir and Silva are both at least as tall as Lesnar, and they were dropped.
