A federal judge in Nevada has dismissed Mark Hunt’s legal case against the UFC, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar, which stemmed from allegations that they knowingly misled him about Lesnar’s use of performance-enhancing drugs in their UFC 200 bout, concluding Hunt failed to provide clear and convincing evidence to support his claims.
After a grueling six-year-long legal battle, it seems Mark Hunt’s case against the UFC, Dana White, and Brock Lesnar is nearing its end. This news comes when on Tuesday, a federal judge in Nevada ruled againt the remainder of Hunt’s case against his former promoter. Earlier last year, the case was reignited when an appeals court overturned previous dismissals of battery, fraud, and conspiracy claims against the UFC, White, and Lesnar. These claims were made in relation to Hunt’s ill-starred fight against WWE star Lesnar on July 9, 2016.
As per U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey, Hunt was unsuccessful in proving that the trio had intentionally deceived him, leading him to believe that Lesnar would not resort to performance-enhancing drugs in their UFC 200 bout. It was also alleged that they conspired to schedule the bout, despite the pre-existing knowledge that Lesnar was doping. Judge Dorsey, in her 27-page opinion, stated, “In sum, each of Hunt’s fraud theories requires far too many inferential leaps and ignores too much contrary evidence for a jury to reasonably find in his favor, particularly by clear and convincing evidence”.
Hunt first sued the UFC, White, and Lesnar in 2017, leveling accusations of racketeering, fraud, and breach of contract, among others. In two separate rulings, Judge Dorsey ruled against Hunt, dismissing all of his claims, until the reversal by the appeals court. Following a 2019 ruling, an outspoken Hunt made a statement against the defendants, expressing his frustrations. Brock Lesnar, former UFC heavyweight champion, returned from WWE to the UFC for the UFC 200, where he defeated Hunt via unanimous decision. Lesnar was, however, exempted from the four-month drug testing window required of returning fighters, but tested positive for multiple banned substances post-fight, leading to a year-long suspension in addition to his win being overturned by USADA and NAC, who regulated the 2016 bout.
After ending his UFC contract on the back of a three-fight losing streak in 2018, while his court battle was ongoing, Hunt stated believing that he was being “blacklisted” by other promoters for challenging the UFC legally. Post-UFC, his only venture into professional fighting was a sole boxing match in 2020 in Sydney. In a statement in 2022, Hunt declared, “I’m done fighting, I think I lost the passion a long time ago when I filed this lawsuit against the UFC. They took that passion away from me, to be honest. The only fight I’ve had since I left the UFC was a boxing match, [and] I couldn’t get another match anywhere. I don’t think any company would pick me up because of this lawsuit, to be honest.”