Dana White responded to Mark Hunt’s comments after he was taken off the Sydney card next month. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph he claims to have offered to fly Hunt to Las Vegas to get checked out.
Hunt was taken off of the UFC Fight Night 121 card after an article he wrote detailed issues with sleep and memory related to his career of fighting.
A portion of the letter reads:
My team contacted his [Hunt’s] management within the first week of learning about these symptoms and offered to fly him to Las Vegas first class to visit the Lou Ruvo Brain Center — which is the best in the world for brain research — to get more tests done. And you know what? He absolutely refused.
White went on to explain that he could not have him in the Octagon with knowledge that Hunt had health issues. He noted that Hunt had yet to be cleared to fight on the Sydney card.
Payout Perspective:
The UFC really had no option here especially with athlete head injuries being in the news. White’s response makes sense and if it is true that Hunt turned down the opportunity to get checked out, then it makes Hunt look bad. Of course, the two sides are currently in a lawsuit where physical injuries are still being claimed so perhaps Hunt’s attorneys do not want him to avail to a medical examination at this point. What will be interesting will be how all of this will factor in the pending lawsuit between Hunt, the UFC, Brock Lesnar and Dana White.
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