By Shawn Smith

Heavyweight knockout artist Mark Hunt isn’t known for holding back, which has made him one of the most fascinating and intriguing interviews in the sport of mixed martial arts.

His recent appearance on the Brains and Brawn Podcast was no different as the Pride, K-1 and UFC veteran went off on the steroid issues that have surrounded his past few fights.

“That whole issue, I felt like I got thrown under the bus,” Hunt said in regards to his UFC 200 bout against Brock Lesnar, which was originally a loss but eventually overturned to a no-contest after Lesnar was found to have Hydroxy-clomiphene in an out-of-competition USADA drug test. “The reason why I did sue the UFC is because it was the third guy in a row, would have been a fourth guy in a row. A lot of people say to me ‘Mark, you knew what you were getting into’. F*** no, I didn’t sign up to fight no steroid monkeys. This is bullsh*t.”

Hunt is referring to his bouts against Antonio Silva, Frank Mir and Lesnar. After his first bout against Antonio Silva in December of 2013, Silva tested positive for elevated testosterone (Hunt knocked Antonio Silva out in the first round of their November 2015 rematch). After Hunt defeated Mir in March of 2016, Mir tested positive for oral turinabol metabolites, which he blamed on tainted kangaroo meat.

The fourth fight Hunt is referring to is a bout against Josh Barnett that was offered to him for a card in Melbourne, Australia. He turned the bout down.

“I felt like I got cheated; I fought Big Foot before and then I fought Frank Mir and he got pinged,” Hunt said. “They asked me to fight Josh Barnett in Melbourne and I said no because he’s a f****** steroid cheat. Two days later he pops for steroids and it’s like what kind of shit is going on here.”

Hunt said that the Lesnar fight was what pushed him over the edge.

“When I fought Brock Lesnar, that was the end of it,” Hunt said. “I’m not going to keep fighting these juice monkeys until you do something about it.”

Hunt is currently scheduled to fight rising heavyweight star Derrick Lewis on June 10 in New Zealand. When asked about his thoughts on the fight, Hunt was, as he’s known to be, blunt.

“As long as he’s not a cheater then that’s fine.”