Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt took part in one of the most memorable heavyweight fights your likely to see at ‘UFC Fight Night 33’ and perhaps fittingly after both men left everything they had in the Octagon over the course of five rounds, the judges declared it a majority draw.
Round One
Fans excited as the main event gets underway. Cautious start for both men as they stay a respectful distance apart from each other in the opening minute. Silva looks enormous in comparison to Hunt.
Silva keeping distance with a couple of kicks. Hunt suddenly charges in with a huge couple of punches, but Silva ducks underneath them and stumbles out of the way.
Back to the center of the cage they go and that distance is established again. Hunt waits patiently and then wades in again, but Silva’s ok.
Silva throws caution to the wind and decides to trade toe-to-toe with Hunt briefly and it pays off for him as he clips him with a short right hand that drops him to the canvas.
Silva follows him down, but he’s not able to take advantage fully as Hunt gets back to his feet, though he does meet him with a knee.
Hunt seems ok and he throws a few punches to make sure Silva knows it. The pace slows a little as they stalk around the cage a bit.
Finally Silva presses in looking to clinch up and work for a takedown, but Hunt does well to reverse him against the cage. Not a whole lot happening from this position though and they separate.
Nice body kick from Silva and that’s the last action of the round.
Round Two
Hunt piles in a couple of times in the opening minute of the second round with punches, but Silva stands up to it and following one exchange he lands a leg kick that seems to buckle Hunt’s leg a little.
Silva runs forward aggressively with a few punches, a set-up to a takedown against the cage, but Hunt does well to spin away out of danger.
Hunt feeds Silva a nice few body shots. It’s tricky for him to get his range against ‘Bigfoot’ though. Silva unleashes a kick.
Soon after Silva’s moving forward quickly again with more punches that don’t quite find their mark. Hunt fires off a punch of his own and it lands solidly, backing Silva up and giving him pause for thought.
Less than two minutes of the round to go and they trade blows in close for a moment. Nice body kick from Hunt. Soon after ‘Bigfoot’ lands a front kick to the mid-section in return.
Another kick from Silva. A couple of punches from Hunt and then Silva lands a low leg kick that staggers his opponent.
Hunt changes stances after that and Hunt targets his legs some more with kicks as the round comes to a close.
Round Three
Nice little combo from Hunt to start the third. Then there’s a real surprise as Hunt takes down Silva. Silva struggles to get up and Hunt keeps him down for a moment, before he does finally get upright. They clinch briefly then break apart.
Silva presses Hunt against the cage, but then stumbles as he attempts to trip Hunt to the mat. Hunt then presses him up against the cage, but Silva manages to reverse that and then land a body kick as Hunt backs away.
Leg kick from Silva. They two men exchange heavy leather in close, but both remain standing and they go back into the clinch.
Breaking apart Hunt lands a solid punch. Silva seems ok, but then a another big right down to the pipe connects hard and clean and Silva drops almost in slow motion to the canvas.
He’s still conscious though as Hunt goes down to the mat and starts to unleash some ground and pound. Hunt’s not going all out for the finish though, instead fighting at a measured pace from half guard, giving Silva time to clear the cobwebs a little.
A minute to go and Hunt’s still in half-guard working away. No fight ending blows being landed here, but he’s definitely starting to wear down the Brazilian as the round ends.
Round Four
Kicks from Silva to start round four. Silva gambling as he exchanges punches in close again. They both emerge unscathed and Hunt presses Silva up against the cage.
When they break apart Silva lands a nice right hook and a leg kick behind it.
Silva might be thinking about a takedown here, but Hunt surprises by taking him down instead against the cage.
‘Bigfoot’ looks for a potential submission, but he’s struggling to work in this confined space and has to bail on the attempt.
Silva manages to get back upright. They start to get into a war starting with Hunt landing a big elbow that definitely hurts his larger opponent. Hunt steps in with another nasty elbow and Silva looks wobbly, but yet is still pressing forward regardless and he’s connecting with some shots.
Silva’s hurt, but so is Hunt and either man could end up getting stopped here. Silva scores with a big knee to the head. Hunt looks rocked now, but he’s still standing.
Silva’s trying to land the killer blow, but he stays standing. Against the cage Hunt is in defensive mode as Silva fires off more punches and another knee.
They fall in tired looking fashion to the mat and Silva gets on top. He’s in a great position to finish this fight with ground and pound, and he opens a nasty cut on Hunt’s head. Silva’s tired though and in the final 10 seconds rather than going all out he decides just to consolidate his position.
Round Five
Both men look exhausted, but after hugging in the center of the cage it’s Hunt who’s still got something left and gets back to work with punches. Hunt really digging deep here and Silva’s in danger. He won’t go down though even as he eats more punches and a bad cut opens up on his face.
Crazy stuff here – these two heavyweights are running on empty, soaked in blood and are having to exhert a lot of effort just to remain standing, yet continue trying to find a finish.
It’s clear that their arms are burned out though as there’s not the same weight in their punches as there was before. Pressed up against the cage the referee stops them briefly so he can have the doctor take a look at Silva’s blood-soaked face, but he’s ok to continue.
On they go and Silva manages to crack Hunt with a few punches and gets into the clinch against the cage. Hunt lands a nice left hand and they break apart.
Hunt lands with an elbow and Silva responds with a knee.
They are almost fighting in slow motion here and in the final 10 seconds Silva tries to push apart from a clinch and engage, but there’s not much in their punches and they embrace in a sign of mutual respect as the crowd cheers upon the final bell.
Decision
Well, that was the very definition of leaving it all in the cage. Who’s won though? Well, it turns out that neither of them have – one judge saw it 48-47 in Hunt’s favor, but the other two saw it as 47-47 and so we’ve got ourselves a majority draw verdict which to be fair, both fighters seem content with.
