UFC: Mark Hunt philosophical about elusive title shot

Mark Hunt will fight in Sydney. Photosport

Mark Hunt has no choice but to be philosophical in his on-going fight to scale the UFC rankings and chase an elusive title shot.

The Kiwi UFC star did everything he could to further his case for a top ranked opponent when he last stepped in the Octagon to floor American Derrick Lewis with a fourth round stoppage in Auckland in June.

Hunt has since been vocal about his quest for a rematch against the No 2 ranked Fabricio Werdum. But with the Brazilian reluctant to pit his status against Hunt's striking ability and no other top five opponents available, options were limited.

Hunt has instead been forced to settle for Poland's Marcin Tybura, ranked three places lower than Lewis, in a fight to headline the Sydney event on November 19.

Tybura has won his last three, the last of which came over former UFC champion Andrei Arvloski, who has now lost his past five fights.

On paper, the 31-year-old Tybura represents a step back for Hunt but with three fights left on his contract all he can do is keep knocking on the door.

"I couldn't get Werdum for Japan or Sydney so I had to settle for the No 10 guy," Hunt said from his Thailand training base.

"I've asked already for JDS [Junior dos Santos] or anyone but they're all busy. Cain [Velasquez] is injured and Werdum said no so I can't do anything else.

"He doesn't want to lose his ranking. This fight does nothing for my ranking. If I lose I go backwards and if I win I probably stay the same. I understand why he wouldn't take it because he has a chance of losing.

"If I was No 1 or two and I was offered the sixth of seventh guy I probably would've said no because the title shot is right there.

"If I beat this guy they can't give me another guy under me - they've got to give me someone higher. I've just got to take this guy out and then get a top guy and go from there. I don't want to sit around on the sidelines. I want to keep active and keep making money.

"He's a young fighter. We'll see how he goes. I'm the best fighter in the world."

Ahead of his fourth headline appearance in Australia, where he has now been based for the past 22 years, Hunt plans to undergo an eight-week training camp in Thailand before returning to the Gold Coast for sparring.

The 43-year-old is aiming to tip the scales around 110kg.

"I'm the oldest fighter in the universe so I've got to do things correctly because the body does not recover well from training so I've got to do it smartly.

"I don't mind fighting anywhere in the world. They've asked me to headline probably because there's no-one else. [Robert] Whittaker is injured. It would've been better having a top five guy but it is what it is."