UFC: Hunt wins at World MMA awards

Mark Hunt. Photo / Getty Images

Mark Hunt's perfectly-placed right uppercut that knocked out Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan in September has won the 'knockout of the year' gong at the World MMA Awards.

The awards are run by Fighters Only magazine and are decided via online fan voting. Hunt's effort beat knockouts from the likes of lightweight favourites Donald Cerrone and Abel Trujillo.

The awards were presented in Las Vegas Saturday.

Hunt's win over Nelson was impressive because the big American had a reputation of having a granite chin having only been previously finished once via strikes in his MMA career.

The behemoths pawed at each other during the first round of their highly-anticipated showdown and began to engage during the second frame before Hunt caught Nelson with the perfect punch to score another trademark walk-away knockout.

"My plan was only just to go and put Roy Nelson out," Hunt said after the fight.

Following the victory over Nelson, the New Zealander took a bout with Brazil's Fabricio Werdum on short notice at UFC 180 in Mexico in November for the interim heavyweight title.

Hunt was defeated via TKO in the second round after he had to drop a bundle of weight to make the fight and appeared to be struggling away from the cage with personal problems.

Despite the loss, Hunt, the No 5-ranked heavyweight in the UFC, has vowed to keep fighting, although the 40-year-old has no specific opponent on the horizon.

Given the lack of depth in the heavyweight division, the 10-9-1 Hunt is only ever a couple of victories away from being part of the title picture.

His entertaining style is crowd-pleasing and he has ranked up US$50,000 bonuses during four of his past five bouts for either being involved in the fight of the night or delivering booming knockouts.