Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Mark Hunt Fights at Home for the First Time
3. Quick Stats
4. Main Event: Hunt Stops Lewis in the Fourth
5. Volkanovski’s Debut, Hooker’s KO, Nguyen & The Card
6. Full Results
7. Bonuses & Awards
8. Records & Milestones
9. Legacy & Impact
10. FAQ
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 110: Lewis vs. Hunt took place on Sunday, June 11, 2017 (Saturday, June 10 in North America) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 923,000 average viewers (696k FS1 prelims). The card drew 8,649 fans for a gate of NZD $1,150,428. It was the second UFC event in Auckland, following UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt in June 2014. The main event was a heavyweight bout between Derrick Lewis and Mark Hunt — who was fighting professionally in his hometown of Auckland for the first time in his career.
Hunt stopped Lewis by TKO at 3:51 of round four in front of the Auckland crowd. Hunt and Lewis earned Fight of the Night. Dan Hooker and Ben Nguyen earned Performance of the Night. Alexander Volkanovski made his UFC debut on the preliminary card with a unanimous decision over Mizuto Hirota.
Mark Hunt Fights at Home for the First Time
Mark Hunt’s competitive MMA career began in 2004. For 13 years he had fought across Japan (Pride FC, K-1), Australia, and the United States without once competing professionally in New Zealand, his homeland. The Auckland card was the first professional fight of his career on New Zealand soil. Hunt was 43 years old when he entered Spark Arena. He was coming off losses to Alistair Overeem at UFC 209 in March 2017 and to Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 in July 2016 — though the Lesnar result was later overturned to a no-contest after Lesnar failed a USADA drug test.
Lewis was on a six-fight UFC winning streak going in, with five finishes. His previous win had been a KO of Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax in February 2017. He was 32 years old — eleven years younger than Hunt. His winning streak and physical athleticism made him the favourite in a fight against a 43-year-old opponent on a two-fight losing run. The Auckland crowd’s attachment to Hunt as a local icon added a crowd context that rarely exists in neutral-venue UFC cards.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Sunday, June 11, 2017 NZ / Saturday, June 10, 2017 North America (2nd UFC event in Auckland)
📍 Venue: Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
👥 Attendance: 8,649
💰 Gate: NZD $1,150,428
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 923,000 avg. viewers (696k FS1 prelims)
🏆 Main Event: Derrick Lewis vs. Mark Hunt — Heavyweight (Hunt’s 1st professional fight in Auckland; Hunt 43 years old; Lewis on 6-fight UFC win streak with 5 KOs)
✅ Result: Hunt def. Lewis via TKO (punches) — R4, 3:51 (FotN $50k each; Hunt controlled majority; Lewis struggled physically; Lewis hinted at retirement post-fight)
Main Event: Hunt Stops Lewis in the Fourth
The expected outcome was a fast, violent exchange between two heavy-handed heavyweights. The actual fight developed differently. Hunt — the more technically disciplined striker at 43 — controlled a vast majority of the action with consistent volume and positional discipline. Lewis struggled to maintain physical output across the rounds. His offensive forays became less frequent and less threatening as the fight progressed. Hunt’s pace was measured and relentless.
In round four, with sustained one-way pressure producing visible cumulative damage on Lewis, the referee stepped in at 3:51 to end the contest. Hunt’s Auckland crowd produced the kind of reception that hometown fights generate. His post-fight celebration was the culmination of a 13-year competitive career’s first professional appearance on New Zealand soil. Lewis suggested in his post-fight comments that he was considering retirement. He did not retire.
Volkanovski’s Debut, Hooker’s KO, Nguyen & The Card
Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC debut unanimous decision over Mizuto Hirota was the card’s most significant result in hindsight. Volkanovski — a 28-year-old Australian featherweight from Shellharbour, New South Wales, who had trained under Mark Robinson at Team VB Gym — went 30-27 across all three scorecards in his first UFC appearance. He had an 11-1 professional record entering the UFC. His Auckland debut was the opening of a FW career that produced the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 245 in December 2019 and three title defenses.
Dan Hooker’s knee KO of Ross Pearson in round two earned Performance of the Night and carried additional significance: Hooker is from Auckland, making this effectively a hometown performance for two fighters on the same card. Ben Nguyen’s 49-second RNC of Tim Elliott was the fastest finish of the main card. Ion Cutelaba’s 22-second KO of Henrique da Silva at LHW was the quickest finish on the card overall. The Auckland card’s main card produced only one fight that went to a decision (Volkanovski vs. Hirota).
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Mark Hunt def. Derrick Lewis — TKO (punches) — R4, 3:51 — HW (FotN $50k each; Hunt’s 1st professional fight in Auckland; Hunt 43 years old on 6-fight Lewis streak; Lewis hinted at retirement)
Derek Brunson def. Daniel Kelly — KO (punches) — R1, 1:16 — MW
Dan Hooker def. Ross Pearson — KO (knee) — R2, 3:02 — LW (PoN $50k; Hooker is Auckland native; hometown PoN for two NZ fighters on same card)
Ion Cutelaba def. Henrique da Silva — KO (punches) — R1, 0:22 — LHW (22-second KO; quickest finish of the card)
Ben Nguyen def. Tim Elliott — Submission (RNC) — R1, 0:49 — FW (PoN $50k; 49-second RNC)
Alexander Volkanovski def. Mizuto Hirota — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — FW (VOLKANOVSKI’S UFC DEBUT; future UFC FW Champion; only decision on main card)
Preliminary & Early Prelim Card
Vinc Pichel def. Damien Brown — KO — R1, 3:37 — LW
Luke Jumeau def. Dominique Steele — WW
John Moraga def. Ashkan Mokhtarian — FW
Zak Ottow def. K. Kunimoto — WW
J.J. Aldrich def. Chan-Mi Jeon — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — Women’s SBW
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Mark Hunt + Derrick Lewis — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Dan Hooker + Ben Nguyen — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Mark Hunt’s first professional fight in Auckland — his hometown — after 13 years of professional MMA competition. Hunt was 43 years old. Lewis’ 6-fight UFC win streak ended.
• Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC debut — the opening of a career that produced the UFC FW Championship at UFC 245 in December 2019.
• Auckland main card produced only one decision (5 finishes from 6 fights).
Legacy & Impact
Volkanovski’s Auckland debut opened a UFC FW career that produced: wins over Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, and Max Holloway; the UFC FW Championship at UFC 245 in December 2019 (defeating Holloway by decision); and three title defenses including two rematches with Holloway and a fight against Brian Ortega. He became one of the most dominant champions in UFC FW history. His 30-27 debut over Hirota showed none of the individual brilliance that later defined his title reign, but it began the journey. Lewis’ Auckland loss did not end his run: he subsequently won his next three UFC fights and earned a UFC HW title shot against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018.
Dan Hooker’s Auckland PoN was an early career data point before a LW career that produced wins over Jim Miller, Al Iaquinta, and Paul Felder, and eventually a top-five LW ranking. His subsequent career losses to Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev at the top of the division tested his resilience. Ben Nguyen’s 49-second RNC was his most memorable individual UFC finish. Hunt’s Auckland win was his final UFC career peak: subsequent fights against Alistair Overeem (NC) and Curtis Blaydes (loss) ended his run before his UFC departure in 2018.
FAQ
Why had Hunt never fought professionally in New Zealand before 2017?
Hunt’s professional MMA career began in 2004 in Japan, where his K-1 kickboxing background gave him immediate access to the Asian combat sports market. His subsequent career was built around Pride FC, K-1, and then the UFC — all organisations whose event infrastructure was primarily in Japan, Australia, and the United States. New Zealand’s limited UFC event history — Auckland had hosted only one prior UFC event, in June 2014 — meant the market had rarely been activated for Fight Night programming. The June 2017 Auckland card provided the first commercially viable opportunity to bring Hunt home.
How did Volkanovski’s debut compare to his future championship level?
Volkanovski’s 30-27 decision over Hirota was technically competent but not individually spectacular. He showed the wrestling base and forward pressure that would eventually define his championship style, but Hirota was not a ranked opponent and the performance did not hint at the elite-level finishing and striking accumulation that later characterised his title defenses. His UFC career development from the Auckland debut to the UFC FW Championship at UFC 245 involved five consecutive UFC wins, each progressively higher-profile, culminating in the Holloway title fight.
Why did Lewis hint at retirement after losing to Hunt?
Lewis’ post-fight retirement comments reflected the physical toll of a fight in which he had been comprehensively outperformed by a 43-year-old opponent in a foreign city. The discomfort of losing a one-sided decision to a fighter significantly older in a crowd that cheered against him was acute. His subsequent career contradicted the retirement suggestion: he won the next three UFC fights (over Mark de la Rossa, Francis Ngannou, and Travis Browne), earning a UFC HW title fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220.
What was Dan Hooker’s background and why was the Auckland card significant for him?
Hooker is from Auckland, New Zealand — making the Spark Arena card a hometown event for two UFC fighters simultaneously, Hooker and Hunt. At 27 years old, Hooker had been building his UFC LW record since 2015 with wins over Shane Campbell, Reza Madadi, and Ross Pearson. His knee KO of Pearson in round two was his most visually impressive individual UFC finish to that point. The Auckland crowd’s reception for a local KO win reinforced his connection to the New Zealand MMA community.
What was Ben Nguyen’s career significance?
Nguyen was a 26-year-old Vietnamese-Australian flyweight from Brisbane who had gone 10-2 professionally before his UFC debut at this event. His 49-second RNC of Tim Elliott was one of the fastest flyweight finishes in UFC history. Elliott was a ranked UFC FW at the time, having most recently lost a competitive split decision to Joseph Benavidez for the FW title at UFC Fight Night 102 in December 2016. Nguyen’s Auckland win launched a brief UFC FW career that produced two additional UFC fights before his release.
What was the context of Ion Cutelaba’s 22-second KO?
Cutelaba was a 22-year-old Moldovan light heavyweight who had debuted in the UFC at UFC Fight Night 97 in September 2016 with a 54-second KO of Henrique da Silva — and remarkably fought the same opponent again at Auckland for a 22-second rematch KO. His combination of age and KO finishing power made him a prospect at LHW. Cutelaba’s subsequent UFC career was characterised by high individual moments alongside inconsistency: wins over Khalil Rountree, Devin Clark, and Magomed Ankalaev interrupted by controversial stoppages and losses.