Hunt rallies fighters against UFC: They have 'lined their pockets with our blood'

With 17 years of combat sports experience under his belt, Mark Hunt is well aware of the nature of the business.

Never has that been more evident than in the aftermath of UFC 200, where Hunt faced off with a returning Brock Lesnar, an opponent who would later be busted for failed in-competition and out-of-competition drug tests in the weeks following the event.

The news has put "The Super Samoan" on the warpath. He's asked for Lesnar to forfeit his fight night wages to him, accused Lesnar and his camp of blatantly cheating, and now he's demanding answers from the UFC.

Specifically, Hunt questioned how the UFC could remove Conor McGregor from UFC 200 for not fulfilling his promotional responsibilities in April, while Lesnar wasn't only free from those responsibilities due to his being booked only a month away from the event, but also given an exemption from a four-month drug testing period normally required of fighters coming out of retirement.

"Once they decided they were going to cut Conor out, they didn't care, they just needed a name to make 200 big." Hunt said in an interview with his website, markhunt.tv. "Exemptions for Brock but not for Conor, I don't know how you can just do that.

"These guys have lined their pockets with our blood if you ask me. I mean they deserve to get paid no doubt, they took the UFC from nothing into what it is today, but come on, most of the guys fighting get paid nothing and have no benefits."

Hunt went on to call for a system where the promotion and the fighters work together to decide what's best for everyone when it comes to issues like drug testing, the Reebok sponsorship deal, and overall athlete compensation.

That said, he noted that much of the responsibility falls on the fighters who "refuse to support other fighters when they f--- us over."

Hunt has yet to hear back from the UFC about his comments regarding Lesnar, and he isn't holding his breath. Nor is he concerned about how they'll react to his criticism of their business.

"I'm not worried about the UFC," Hunt said. "Shucks, I've been fighting my whole life. Fighting to survive in my home, to the ring and now cage. These guys didn't even want me in the UFC but here I am. I'm not scared of them."

- With h/t to Bloody Elbow