Jon Anik would like to see a memorable heavyweight war enter the UFC Hall of Fame.
On Friday, the UFC will induct the eighth bout into the Fight Wing of its Hall of Fame: Robbie Lawler’s title-fight barnburner with Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 in 2015.
When asked which fight he’d induct next, Anik picked Mark Hunt’s majority draw vs. Antonio Silva, which headlined a UFC Fight Night in Brisbane, Australia in 2013. Hunt won the rematch by first-round TKO at UFC 193 less than two years later.
“The lead horse: Mark Hunt, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva on Larry Bird’s birthday, Dec. 7, 2013,” Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. “Dateline: Brisbane, Australia. One of the greatest heavyweight fights in UFC history. It happened in the A.M. in Australia, and I remember me and Kenny Florian saying to each other as we were walking out of that arena, getting soaked by the sun in Brisbane, and we were thinking, ‘Man, I hope people in the U.S. are watching this.’”
Anik isn’t sure if the UFC will agree with him due to Hunt’s differences with the promotion. Hunt filed a lawsuit against the UFC in January 2017, claiming the company knew Brock Lesnar was taking performance-enhancing drugs prior to their July 2016 fight. Lesnar won, but the decision was overturned when he failed a drug test. In 2019, the state of Nevada ruled in the UFC’s favor on all counts.
“Sometimes you don’t know promotionally where certain athletes stand, (but) obviously Mark Hunt and the UFC have their issues,” Anik said. “But to me, if I could put any fight I have done into the Hall of Fame, it would be that one or Matt Brown vs. Erik Silva main event, Cincinnati, 2014.”
