Mark Hunt has had a lot of things go right for him over the past couple of years. A four-fight winning streak has him in what amounts to a number one contender bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 on May 25th. But Hunt’s luck hasn’t been so good over the past few days – he has been unable to fly to the US to start preparing for the bout, being denied entry onto two different flights for two very different reasons and ending up stuck in New Zealand. Hunt has been keeping a running commentary of his issues on twitter, and the reason he was denied entry on the first flight was apparently because he didn’t have a visa:
If its not one thing it’s another no one told me about a visa might miss my flight ooooopppps
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 6, 2013
Looks like one more night in NZ
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 6, 2013
Can u see my frustration lol twitter.com/markhunt1974/s…
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 6, 2013
He did provide some foreshadowing in a response to a tweet though, mentioning an arrest:
@derekschock @geuben well thanks to a idiot freind if mine I did get arrested
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 6, 2013
Things appeared to be cleared up when he got his old passport and visa sent over to him:
Well wed is the day I’m out got to wait for my old passport coming from aus dam to much build ups jus want to start acclimatising
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 6, 2013
Good to go, right? Fast forward three days, and things apparently got a lot worse:
Getting real tired of this shit
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 9, 2013
This is wat happens wen u have friends that are dikheads the last fukn time I help these mother fkn trouble makers
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 9, 2013
Denied again at airport I’m never helping anymore dikhead mates
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 9, 2013
Obviously he was denied entry due to the arrest he mentioned before. There are still 16 days until the event, but stuff like this isn’t easy to sort out sometimes. I doubt that the bout is in jeopardy, but hopefully he can get it cleared up and start his preparation for Dos Santos as quickly as possible.
UPDATE: Hunt says the arrest was in the US in 2002 –
@spotsjack @bloodyelbow this is true and I been arrested once in us in 2002 and it was some really really dumb two friends of mine fighting
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) May 9, 2013
He also said that the UFC is “on it”, and he should be flying out tonight. That’s good to hear.
UPDATE 2 – Hunt explained the 2002 arrest in detail to MMA Fighting:
“Just a stupid incident which happened in 2002,” he told MMAFighting.com. “It wasn’t even my fault, but as usual, I get canned for it. I should be fine by today. UFC is on it.”
“A friend of mine punched another friend outside a club. Another guy said to me that they needed help. I went out to see what had happened. I see that these two losers were pissed [drunk]. I try to go back in the club and an undercover cop said I wasn’t allowed. I said, Can I just go back in to get my girl? He says, no. I ask him again, he says, I’ll tell you one more time you’re under arrest. Guess what? I ask again, he flicks his baton; I get upset.
“So, he has his baton in his left hand, and I walk up to him. He maces me with his right hand, and they jump me. I wasn’t even drunk. I spent New Year’s in jail for public intoxication, and I wasn’t even drunk.”
Interestingly enough, he also said that the arrest is why he couldn’t fight Butterbean at Pride 32 back in 2006. It was reported that he had an injury at the time.
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