Stipe Miocic used his wrestling and relentless ground and pound to gradually wear down Mark Hunt tonight at UFC Fight Night 65, eventually stopping him by fifth round TKO, though it should have been stopped earlier.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway. Hunt with an early leg kick. Looks for a left hook too.
Hunt with a body kick now. Stipe in a takedown, but Hunt is right back up. Miocic letting go with a few punches now. Hunt wades forward with a couple of punches, but Miocic counters.
Hard punch from Hunt finds Miocic’s head. Miocic lands a leg kick. Hunt lands again with a hook. Promising signs for him early.
Miocic with a straight punch. He lands a good straight right now. Hunt comes forward, but eats a counter hook.
Right hand lands for Hunt that’s blocked. Hunt loads up on a right, but Miocic ducks under and takes him down.
Miocic in half guard and grinding his elbow into Hunt’s face. He continues to work the elbows but just landing short shots than real power blows. A few hammerfists now and Miocic is turning up the heat a little with 30 seconds of the round remaining.
Miocic thinking about a kimura and moves to side control, but respect to Hunt who manages to work back to his feet and is looking to sling some heavy leather as the round ends.
Round Two:
Miocic with a nice jab to start the second. He continues working that punch, then reaches for a leg to initiate the takedown, but quickly decides against it.
Miocic putting forward presure on Hunt who looks a little tired. Hunt misses with a couple of hooks. He tries another and Miocic ducks under and works a takedown.
Hunt up on one knee against the cage with Miocic working to his back as he lands punches to the head. Slightly awkward position here and Hunt is trying his best to stand. Eventually he manages it, but ate quite a few punches before finding success.
Miocic cracks off a big right hand and follows it up with another. A left hook from Hunt and then a bigger one behind it. He looks weary though. Miocic into the clinch and landing a few punches and a hard knee.
Miocic presses Hunt up against the cage now. A few short shoulder shrugs and punches inside and then they break apart. Hunt looking to land something and Miocic lands a hook.
Miocic down on a single leg, but Hunt stays on his feet this time, so Miocic goes back to the clinch instead.
Knee from Miocic and an uppercut. Hunt reverses and starts unleashing some big, winging punches. Miocic takes it though and then starts to fire back just as the round ends.
Round Three:
Hunt short with a few punches and Miocic lands the jab. Miocic ducks under a punch again to get the takedown with most of the round to work from this advantageous position.
He’s in half guard and working those short, grinding elbows as he did in the first round. He postures up briefly and lands a few punches. He loads up on a couple of big elbows now. More land and Hunt isn’t liking this. He shifts back towards the cage, but when he gets there Miocic starts to up his workrate and is landing a lot of blows.
Hunt tries to stand which brings a roar from the crowd, but he’s only up on a knee and looks exhausted. Miocic thinking about a submission, but then Hunt does stand. Only momentarily though as Miocic ducks in and dumps him right back down again.
Miocic going all in for a finish now with a relentless barrage of punches and hammerfists. The ref is urging Hunt to fight back as more offense comes. Hunt bloodied and offering very little other than heart here, but the ref must be a fan as he’s giving ‘The Super Samoan’ absolutely every opportunity to keep fighting. Hunt makes it to the end of the round, but he’s taking a beating here and his face is showing the damage of that sustained assault.
Round Four:
Miocic with the jab. Hunt looking for that one big punch that could end the fight. Unfortunately for him Miocic almost effortlessly gets a takedown and it’s deja vu now as he starts working ground and pound from half guard in the center of the Octagon.
Punches from Miocic and now back to the elbows to the head with a few to the body for good measure. Hunt perhaps too tough for his own good at this point as he continues to eat shots.
Hunt trying to stand, but Miocic keeps him on his back. Miocic blasts some punches to his ribs, then back to the head as they slowly work towards the cage. Big punches landing and Hunt’s makin another attempt to stand against the cage. Up on one knee and then upright. Miocic doesn’t get another immediate takedown, but blasts Hunt with a powerful blow.
Hunt operating almost on empty, but he just won’t quit. Miocic takes a bit of a breather clinching up agains the cage and Hunt is happy to settle for that until the buzzer sounds.
Round Five:
Five minutes left for Hunt to survive, but first he’s quizzed by the doctor who’s concerned that the heavyweight can’t see. He tells the ref he can continue, but Hunt will be getting monitored very closely as his face is all kinds of swollen from the damage he’s sustained.
Seconds into the round Miocic lands a punch and then a takedown. Not good for Hunt. Miocic opting for control more than anything here close to the cage. He starts landing a few punches with three and a half minutes remaining. His work rate has definitely slowed though, though it looks like he could pick up the pace if he wanted to.
And right on cue Miocic does start landing some big blows to the head again. The ref is again telling Hunt to fight back. I really hope he just ends this, there’s no need for Hunt to take more punishment. The ref hesitates then finally does come in to put an end to Hunt’s misery with 2.47mins of the fifth round gone.
Really this one could have been stopped two rounds ago. Nevertheless, credit to Miocic as that was a dominant, assured and thoroughly one-sided victory against the No.5 ranked Hunt that will push him closer to title contention.
