UFC: Aussies claim NZ's Hunt

Mark Hunt has been training twice a day with short sessions, under 40 minutes. Photo / Getty Images

They've claimed Phar Lap, Crowded House and pavlova, now the Australians are trying to claim UFC fighter Mark Hunt as one of theirs.

The former K-1 kickboxing champion will take on Brazilian Fabricio Werdum for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's interim world heavyweight title in Mexico City next month.

The Sydney Morning Herald's reporting Hunt has the opportunity to become the first Australian to wear a UFC title belt.

Hunt lives in Australia but he was born and bred in New Zealand and is an All Blacks supporter.

Hunt has enjoyed a long career in combat sports, which began after he was spotted in a fight outside a South Auckland nightspot.

He was crowned K-1 kickboxing world champion in 2001 and switched to MMA a few years later as the sport began to gain further mainstream attention.

The lethal striker won five of his first six MMA bouts before he went on a disastrous six-fight losing streak between 2006-2010 but he managed to claw his way back to prominence.

Due to the length of time he has lived in Australia (around 20 years) he is often claimed by our friends from across the Tasman. The poster to promote last year's UFC Fight Night 33 show in Brisbane - where he met Brazil's Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva' - displayed Hunt in front of an Australian flag.

The poster created a social media storm but it wasn't a big deal to the laidback Hunt who clarified that he would always be known as a Kiwi.

"I'm always going to be a New Zealand fighter,'' Hunt told the Herald last year. "I'm a Kiwi of course and I've still got my New Zealand passport.''

Case closed.