Hunt vs. Nelson Could Be the 2014 Fight of the Year

This weekend at UFC Fight Night 52, there’s a very good chance MMA fans are treated to the Fight of the Year.

In the the evening’s (or morning’s, for North American fans watching on Fight Pass) main event, Mark Hunt takes on Roy Nelson in a five-round heavyweight fight. This bout between the two rotund big boys with heavy hands and iron chins is almost guaranteed to be a standup war for 25 minutes or less, and considering the quality of their past fights, I really do think this bout has all the makings of Fight of the Year.

Hunt hasn’t fought since last December due to the broken hand he suffered in the 2013 Fight of the Year against Bigfoot Silva. That was a fight that people slept on initially, but one that ended up becoming one of the greatest fights in the history of the sport. For five rounds, both Hunt and Bigfoot threw bombs at each other’s noggins, and at the end of 25 minutes, the fight was called a draw, a fitting end to one of the most violent heavyweight slugfests ever witnessed inside the cage. And prior to that, Hunt had another 2013 Fight of the Year candidate for his war at UFC 160 against Junior dos Santos. That was an amazing fight as well, and with Hunt’s KO win over Stefan Struve earlier in 2013 as well, it’s pretty clear Hunt was one of the best fighters of the year in 2013.

Now he’s 40 years old, but he’s still a warrior, and he’s still a fighter with ridiculous knockout power and one of the best chins ever. And the same can be said for his opponent Nelson, who is 38 but who is also capable of fighting at an extremely high level still. Nelson, who has battled inconsistency inside the Octagon, is coming off of an incredible KO over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a fight which showed he still has something left in the tank after all the punishment he’s taken in his UFC career. Although Nelson has eaten an obscene amount of strikes in his UFC tenure, it’s always enjoyable to watch him get lit up, and going up against a former K-1 striker, there’s a very good chance that happens once again this Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the former home of PRIDE Fighting Championships.

The one downside to this matchup taking place in Japan is that many North American fans (and those in Europe as well) may not watch it due to the time difference. Even if it is a Fight of the Year candidate, as I expect it to be, the fact that it’s not on primetime television or pay-per-view could hurt it when it comes to picking FOTY at the end of December. However, if the fight is as good as I think it will be, it should be able to cut across that divide, as word of mouth will force fans to catch the replay anyways.

Regardless of what time it starts at, this isn’t a fight I’d miss for the world. It’s a matchup that I’ve been waiting to see for years, and I really feel like it’s going to be a five-round heavyweight war in the vein of Hunt vs. Bigfoot. That fight surprised many, as no one expected it to go the full five, but considering the chins on Hunt and Nelson, I don’t think it would shock anyone if this goes the full 25. Then again, it wouldn’t shock anyone if there was a brutal knockout, considering the insane power both Hunt and Nelson have in their limbs.

The UFC made a terrific choice for the main event of UFC Japan 2014 by pitting two big sluggers with the ability to take a shot and give a shot against each other. It’s a PRIDE-style fight, and just like in PRIDE, fans in the U.S. and Canada will have to watch it in the wee hours of the night. But, just like every single PRIDE event, this is going to be worth it to stay up for, and, dare I say it, I can’t wait to get up early Saturday morning.