UFC: Hunt makes weight for main event fight

Mark Hunt. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

There are no weight concerns for New Zealand's mixed martial arts contingent ahead of UFC Fight Night 33 in Brisbane tomorrow.

Today's weigh-ins, as largely expected, brought good news for Mark Hunt, James Te Huna and Dylan Andrews at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

There were some nerves from Hunt's camp a week ago around whether he would make the 120kg maximum weight limit for UFC heavyweights but he tipped in at 118.8kgs.

Following his last bout in May - where he lost to Junior dos Santos via knockout in Las Vegas - Hunt picked up a serious leg infection and spent a couple of weeks in hospital where he ballooned out to more than 140kgs.

Credit must go to his conditioning man Alex Flint who has helped the 9-8 Hunt drop the excess weight and the `Super Samoan' looked relaxed ahead of tomorrow's five-round main event showdown with Brazilian Antonio `Bigfoot' Silva (18-5).

Silva, who has a notable height advantage over Hunt, weighed 119.7kgs and enjoyed a warm reception from the crowd, although Hunt drew the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Te Huna, who will meet Mauricio `Shogun' Rua tomorrow, was right on the light heavyweight limit of 93kgs, while middleweight Andrews, who will fight Clint Hester, was on the money at 84kgs.

A crowd of more than 1000 people streamed in to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which is out of the central city in the suburb of Boondall, for the weigh-ins.

English fighter Michael Bisping, who is currently out of action due to a serious eye injury, entertained the crowd for the first half an hour with an open question and answer session.

UFC fans are nothing if not enthusiastic and Bisping was humorous and honest as he answered every query pushed his way.

Despite Hunt, Andrews and Te Huna all being born and raised in New Zealand, the Australian media have latched on to the Australian-based Kiwis.

The promotional video for tomorrow's event announced Te Huna as ``Australia's own'' when it was screened at the weigh-in.

- Daniel Richardson was a guest of Brisbane Marketing and Tourism Events Queensland.