Derrick Hunt Has Small Edge To Win on June 11th

Published on June 4th, 2017 1:58 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel
The MMA match preview - Orange hit. The UFC is travelling to New Zealand next week, and what better main event participant to have on the card than the hard-hitting Mark Hunt, who will be taking on the rapidly rising Derrick Lewis.

Mark Hunt should have the considerable hometown advantage, as the event is taking place at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. In addition to fighting in front of his partisan hometown crowd, Hunt will also have the advantage of not having to travel for such a long distance to get to the fight. Derrick Lewis, on the other hand, will need to travel 15-16 hours just to get to New Zealand, and it will be interesting to see if this has any impact on his large body.

Another interesting point - Mark Hunt is currently involved in a lawsuit against the UFC right now. Will this distract Hunt at all? Will it fire him up? That remains to be seen - one thing is for sure, however, is that Hunt likely won't hold anything back during interviews this week.

Here is how the main card for this event looks:

Derrick Lewis v Mark Hunt
Derek Brunson v Dan Kelly
Dan Hooker v Ross Pearson
Ion Cutelaba v Henrique da Silva
Tim Elliott v Ben Nguyen
Alexander Volkanovski v Mizuto Hirota

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As mentioned, Lewis is a slight favourite to win this fight - here are the current betting odds:

Derrick Lewis, 1.80
Mark Hunt, 2.00

This fight is scheduled for five rounds, though nobody believes that it will actually go that far. Here is the over/under line:

Over 1.5 Rounds, 1.90
Under 1.5 Rounds, 1.90

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Both Hunt and Lewis hit very hard, though Hunt possesses a level of striking that is a step above most of the other fighters in the Heavyweight division.

Lewis, on the other hand, has age and momentum on his side, as he is currently in the midst of a six fight winning streak. There is a great deal on the line for Lewis in this fight, as an emphatic victory would likely put him one win away from a shot at the Heavyweight title.

Can you really bet against a fired up Mark Hunt who is fighting in front of his home fans? I'm taking Mark Hunt at even money to win this fight - look for a walk-off KO from Hunt as he dazzles in front of his adoring fans.

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