On Saturday, Sept. 20, the UFC hosted UFC Fight Night 52: Hunt vs. Nelson from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
In the night’s main event, a pair of heavyweight knockout artists locked horns as New Zealand-native Mark Hunt faced off with Roy Nelson. Hunt fought for the first time since his five-round war with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC Fight Night 33 last December. The 40-year-old had experienced a career resurgence over the last three years, having tasted defeat just once in his last six Octagon appearances. Nelson, meanwhile, looked to build on the momentum of a violent, first-round knockout of former UFC and Pride title holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in April. The win snapped a two-fight skid for the 38-year-old.
The co-main event of the evening featured another former Pride champion, Takanori Gomi. Gomi was squaring off with unbeaten TUF alum, Myles Jury. Gomi had won three of his last four after a sluggish start to his UFC tenure. Jury earned his fifth straight win inside the Octagon in March with a lopsided decision win over Diego Sanchez.
The 12-fight card kicked off Saturday at 12:30 a.m. ET with six preliminary card bout streaming live on UFC Fight Pass. The six-fight main card followed at 3 a.m. ET, also on UFC Fight Pass.
For the full results of the event, click here.
Above is a video interview with the victorious Hunt, as well as highlights of the bout with Nelson (courtesy of the UFC). Footage from the fight can be found at the 1:04 mark if the video.
Takanori Gomi vs. Myles Jury
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Amir Sadollah
Rin Nakai vs. Miesha Tate
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Richard Walsh
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Jon Delos Reyes
Katsunori Kikuno vs. Sam Sicilia
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Takenori Sato
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Michinori Tanaka
Johnny Case vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Maximo Blanco vs. Daniel Hooker