After 5 legal battles, the controversy engulfing Dana White and his former fighters, Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar, has finally ended. The initial lawsuit began in 2017, right after UFC 200, after Hunt accused the UFC head honcho of allowing Lesnar to fight even though he supposedly knew about the WWE star’s use of performance enhancers. Hunt’s claims even included allegations of fraud, battery, breach of contract, and civil conspiracy. However, US District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey dismissed the majority of these claims back in February 2019. And later in the year, the remaining claims were also dismissed. But White couldn’t take a sigh of relief just yet. 

In 2021, the lawsuit was revived, allowing the case to move on with certain allegations against the UFC. In 2023 September, Judge Dorsey dismissed all of the remaining claims. The Judge, in the ruling, wrote, “Despite extensive briefing and oral argument, Hunt has been unable to provide the necessary evidentiary support for his theories.” In the 27-page opinion document, Dorsey wrote, “In sum, each of Hunt’s fraud theories requires far too many inferential leaps and ignores too much contrary evidence for a jury to reasonably find in his favor, particularly by clear and convincing evidence.”

Despite that, Hunt made an appeal to the ruling even after his legal advisors withdrew the case in short order. He even accused the 55-year-old boss of “stalking and intimidating” his family. And after the three-judge panel in the lower court found Hunt’s shreds of evidence insufficient, the Ninth Circuit upheld Judge Dorsey’s ruling. Now, after 8 years of legal battle, things have finally settled down. 

The panel shared a no-nonsense ruling and wrote, “Unfortunately, Hunt does not point to any evidence in the record of any physical, emotional, economic, or reputational damage or harm attributable to Defendants-Appellees’ conduct. Indeed, while maintaining that such evidence does in fact exist, Hunt acknowledged both in his reply brief and at argument that evidence of damages has not yet been ‘adequately presented.’” 

You see, the allegations stemmed from one of Lesnar’s failed drug tests after UFC 200. He tested positive for clomiphene. This led to his 1-year suspension, and he had to pay $250K to the NSAC as a fine. The battle was also overturned to a no-contest. With Hunt being pretty vocal about his grievances, Lesnar has actually stayed shut about it. But Dana White wasn’t someone who could let it all slip away without a jab. Let’s see what the UFC head honcho had to say to Hunt. 

Dana White lashes back at Mark Hunt after the court initially dismissed his claims

During a press conference for DWCS in 2022, right after Judge Dorsey found that Hunt had failed to provide the court with sufficient evidence to back his claims, Dana White revealed his stance about Hunt. He said, “Listen, Mark Hunt has lost so many lawsuits against us, it’s insane. He’s a bit of a delusional guy. He’s going to have to pay some legal fees.” But do you know that this lawsuit put Hunt out of the MMA realm for good? 

After the 2019 ruling, Hunt lashed out at White, quoting, “I tried to make things even on the battle field of MMA, but again, the cheating company, Dana White, UFC with all its billions, they ripped everyone off win again. Someone will die against a steroid-using cheater, and your s— ripoff company will be at fault, UFC.”

After the fight against Lesnar, ‘Super Samoan’ went on to fight 5 more fights in the UFC, and lost 4 of them. He ended his MMA career with a 3-fight losing streak and then moved to boxing in 2020. But after losing the lawsuit, he said that his fighting days were over. According to him, he lost his passion back when he filed the lawsuit. He revealed that he couldn’t get another fight anywhere because of the lawsuit. Meanwhile, UFC 200 also marked the last time we ever saw Brock Lesnar in the UFC. 

What are your thoughts on the lawsuit that Hunt filed after UFC 200? Do you think the doping tests should be more stringent? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.