UFC president Dana White has hinted at a shock contract extension for Mark Hunt, saying of the controversial Sydney slugger: “He’s a little nutty ... but we’re in the fight business”.

In yet another twist to their ongoing, and incredibly public, feud, White has told The Daily Telegraph he is considering an extension for Hunt, 44, should the heavyweight win his next fight — a UFC Moscow headliner on September 15 against homegrown favourite and No.11 heavyweight contender Aleksei Oleinik.

UFC officials have announced Hunt will face Oleinik when the UFC debuts in the Russian capital.

Initially, it was thought Hunt would only fight twice more inside the Octagon this year, with UFC Adelaide in December seeming like the perfect card for an emotional farewell.

Indeed, White’s suggestion the “Super Samoan” could now continue well into 2019 will surprise even the fighter given he remains involved in an ugly court battle with not only the UFC president, but his fight company and American superstar Brock Lesnar.

The drama has been playing out since UFC 200, almost two years ago.

White also banned Hunt from fighting last October after the cult favourite admitted in a Players Voice article to slurring his words, struggling to sleep and forgetting “something I did yesterday”.

Yet when asked if the heavyweight currently ranked No.8 was now on the last stages of his Farewell Tour, White said: “Listen, Mark Hunt has been a little nutty, but he’s also a fighter who has done some amazing things.

“And we’re in the fight business.

“So we’re not going to bury him if he’s out there winning fights. We will put him in good fights and even look at renewing his contract.”

Should he earn a new deal — which would most likely be on a one or two-fight basis moving forward — Hunt could become the oldest UFC fighter to win inside the Octagon.

Currently, the record is held by American great Randy Couture, who won a heavyweight title aged 43 and, three years later, beat James Toney at UFC 118.

Back in 2011, Hunt went on a four-fight win streak which then culminated with a heavyweight interim title fight with Junior Dos Santos — which he lost via second round KO.

More recently, however, he has dropped two of his past three, plus that contentious “no contest” with Lesnar.

Hunt also made headlines in October 2017 after being sidelined by White for showing potential signs of concussion.

After learning of the ban, Hunt slammed both the decision and White in several expletive-laden social media posts.

He was then required to fly to Las Vegas for extensive brain injury testing — all of which he passed — and was eventually cleared to start fighting again.

Regardless, Hunt remained so convinced his UFC career was over he had already began sourcing potential rivals should he make a switch to boxing.