Dana White Finally, Thankfully Shoots Down Rally4Hunt Movement

Those of you clamoring for lovable comeback kid Mark Hunt to replace Alistair Overeem against Junior dos Santos next month are out of luck. 

UFC president Dana White put the kibosh on the #Rally4Hunt Twitter movement at today's UFC on Fuel post-fight press conference in Sweden.

"They can keep rallying. It ain’t going to happen," White said.

Fans have bombarded White's Twitter account in recent weeks, calling for Hunt to get the title shot against dos Santos if Overeem is unable to secure a license for the fight. Hunt has won three consecutive fights, bringing his overall MMA record to 8-7.

"I have apologized and praised Mark Hunt for what he's accomplished in the situation he was in, and I think this fight with Struve is a good fight for him. If he beats Struve, he’ll break in and start fighting some of the top five heavyweights in the world," White said. "Anything can happen in a fight. But in reality, it's not fair to Mark Hunt, to throw the guy right in there with Junior Dos Santos for a title shot. The guy worked his way up, he beats Struve, he fights somebody in the top five."

"I guarantee you this: he beats Struve, his next fight will be someone in the top five that can get him closer to a title shot."

I'm glad White put a stop to this nonsense, because I'm tired of reading about Hunt as a potential replacement for Overeem. It just wasn't realistic. Hunt's winning streak is one of the better stories going in the UFC today, but he still lacks the kind of signature win over a top-ranked opponent that would make him a legitimate contender.

However, I do agree with White that if Hunt beats Struve—and that's not a lock by any means—he should be given one of the guys ranked top five or six in the division. If he wins that fight? Sure. Give the man a title shot. At that point, he'll deserve it.

But he doesn't deserve it just yet.