Dan Hardy
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Name | Dan Hardy |
| Nickname | The Outlaw | |
| Association | Team Rough House / 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu | |
| Weight Class | Welterweight (170 lbs.) | |
| Height | 6' 0" (183 cm.) | |
| Reath | 74.0 in (188 cm) | |
| Style | Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | |
| Birth Date | May 17, 1982 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Nottingham, England, United Kingdom | |
| Country | England | |
| Dan Hardy Pictures | Hardy's Official Site |
Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy is an English mixed martial artist competing in the welterweight division. Competing professionally since 2004, Hardy competed in various promotions such as Cage Force and Cage Warriors before signing a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2008.
He is the former Cage Warriors Light Welterweight and Welterweight Champion, as well as a UFC Welterweight title challenger.
Contents |
[edit] Professional Record
| Record | 25 - 10 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) (1 NC) |
| Wins | 12 (T)KOs 4 Submissions 9 Decisions |
| Losses | 1 (T)KOs 4 Submissions 4 Decisions 1 Other |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Amir Sadollah | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC on FUEL TV 5: Struve vs. Miocic | 9/29/2012 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Duane Ludwig | KO (Punch and Elbows) | UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir | 5/26/2012 | 1 | 3:51 | Won co-Knockout of the Night |
| Loss | Chris Lytle | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFC on Versus 5: Hardy vs Lytle | 8/14/11 | 3 | 4:16 | Won Fight of the Night |
| Loss | Anthony Johnson | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC Fight Night 24: Nogueira vs. Davis | 3/26/2011 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Carlos Condit | KO (Punches) | UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama | 10/16/2010 | 1 | 4:27 | |
| Loss | Georges St. Pierre | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy | 3/27/2010 | 5 | 5:00 | For UFC Welterweight Championship |
| Win | Mike Swick | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera | 11/14/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Became #1 contender to face Georges St. Pierre |
| Win | Marcus Davis | Decision (Split) | UFC 99: The Comeback | 6/13/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Rory Markham | KO (Punch) | UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson | 2/21/2009 | 1 | 1:09 | |
| Win | Akihiro Gono | Decision (Split) | UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben | 10/18/2008 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Daniel Weichel | TKO (Elbows) | UF: Punishment | 5/03/2008 | 2 | N/A | |
| Win | Chad Reiner | TKO (Punches) | CWFC: Enter the Rough House 6 | 4/19/2008 | 3 | 2:10 | Won Cage Warriors FC Welterweight Championship (Vacant) |
| Win | Manuel Garcia | Submission (Punches) | CWFC: Enter the Rough House 5 | 12/08/2007 | 1 | 2:21 | |
| Loss | Yoshiyuki Yoshida | DQ (Accidental Kick to the Groin) | GCM: Cage Force 5 | 12/01/2007 | 2 | 0:04 | Cage Force Welterweight Tournament Finals |
| Win | Hidetaka Monma | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | GCM: Cage Force 4 | 9/08/2007 | 3 | 0:28 | Cage Force Welterweight Tournament Semi-finals |
| Win | Daizo Ishige | Decision (Unanimous) | GCM: Cage Force EX Eastern Bound | 5/27/2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Cage Force Welterweight Tournament Quarter-finals |
| Win | Willy Ni | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | CWFC: Enter the Rough House 2 | 4/28/2007 | 2 | 0:32 | |
| Win | Alexandre Izidro | TKO | CWFC: Enter the Rough House | 12/09/2006 | 3 | 4:56 | Won Cage Warriors FC Lightweight Championship |
| Win | Danny Rushton | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | CWFC: Showdown | 9/16/2006 | 1 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | David Baron | Decision | 2H2H: Road to Japan | 6/18/2006 | 2 | 3:00 | |
| Loss | Forrest Petz | Decision (Unanimous) | FF 2: Fightfest 2 | 4/14/2006 | 5 | 5:00 | Lost Cage Warriors FC Welterweight Championship; for Fightfest Welterweight Championship (Vacant) |
| Win | Diego Gonzalez | TKO (Cut) | CWFC: Strike Force 5 | 3/25/2006 | 3 | 0:19 | Defended Cage Warriors FC Welterweight Championship |
| Win | Matt Thorpe | Decision (Split) | CWFC: Strike Force 4 | 11/26/2005 | 5 | 5:00 | Won Cage Warriors FC Welterweight Championship (Vacant) |
| NC | Diego Gonzalez | No Contest | CWFC: Strike Force 3 | 10/01/2005 | 2 | 1:19 | |
| Win | Sami Berik | Decision (Unanimous) | CWFC: Quest 3 | 9/17/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Lautaro Arborelo | TKO | CWFC: Strike Force 2 | 7/16/2005 | 3 | 3:52 | |
| Win | Alexandre Izidro | Decision (Unanimous) | KOTC: Warzone | 6/24/2005 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Stuart Barrs | TKO | UK: Storm | 6/18/2005 | 2 | N/A | |
| Loss | David Baron | Submission (Triangle Choke) | CWFC: Strike Force | 5/21/2005 | 2 | 3:10 | |
| Win | Andy Walker | TKO (Strikes) | CWFC: Quest | 4/08/2005 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Lee Doski | Submission (Injury) | FC UK 1: Fight Club UK 1 | 1/29/2005 | 2 | N/A | |
| Win | Aaron Barrow | KO | CWFC 9: Xtreme Xmas | 12/18/2004 | 1 | 0:13 | |
| Loss | Pat Healy | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | AFC 10: Absolute Fighting Championships 10 | 10/30/2004 | 1 | 3:50 | |
| Win | Andy Melia | Submission (Strikes) | CWFC 8: Brutal Force | 9/18/2004 | 2 | N/A | |
| Win | Paul Jenkins | Decision (Majority) | FCFN 2: Full Contact Fight Night 2 | 8/14/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Lee Doski | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | EB 7: Extreme Brawl 7 | 6/06/2004 | 2 | 4:59 | |
[edit] Biography
Hardy had been training in Taekwondo since he was six years old. Hardy began training because he wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Hardy gave up when Taekwondo went down the Olympic route. He wanted real fights, so he switched to Thai Boxing instead. Hardy only became interested in Mixed Martial Arts after spending two months in China training with the Shaolin monks in 2002. Hardy came back to England and competed in amateur MMA tournaments until his professional debut in 2004.
Hardy has spent time training at Xtreme Couture. He received his Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Eddie Bravo.
[edit] Mixed Martial Arts Career
Hardy began competing in 2004, losing his first professional fight. He improved his record to an impressive 19-6-0 with 1 No Contest, while winning the Cage Warriors Light-Welterweight and Welterweight World Championships, before being signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
[edit] UFC Career
Dan Hardy was never given a tune-up fight when he joined the promotion, being thrown into the mix striaght away against Shooto, Pancrase, and PRIDE veteran Akihiro Gono. Hardy defeated Gono via Split Decision to win his UFC debut. Gono was left swollen and bloody by several of Hardy's left hooks. Gono rocked Hardy on more than one occasion. In the third round Gono pushed Hardy to the canvas, while there Gono landed an illegal knee to the face of the downed fighter. This caused the fight to be stopped for a lengthy period. Hardy recovered and went on to win the Split Decision. The judges saw the bout 29-28 (twice) for Hardy, and 29-28 for Gono.
Hardy returned at UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson to take on Miletich Martial Arts stand-out Rory Markham. Markham was knocked out cold at 1:09 of the first round with a clean counter left hook. A follow-in shot on the mat brought in referee Kevin Mulhall to stop the fight. This gave Hardy his second win inside the octagon. In his post-fight interview, Hardy retorted to Markham's pre-fight accusation that he had weak hands by exclaiming to the ecstatic crowd, "No punching power? What do you have to say about that?”
[edit] Fight with Davis
Dan Hardy fought and beat via split decision Marcus Davis at UFC 99: The Comeback on June 13, 2009. The grudge between these two men began with the Irish-American Davis fighting in the UK against local fighters and defeating them all in spectacular fashion. Hardy stated that the UK was his home and he did not want Davis in it, building a fan base. It started to get personal when Hardy began openly insulting Davis calling him a fake Irishmen, and stating that Davis' website looked like a St. Patrick's day parade blew up. Then on an underground mma site, Hardy encouraged fans to post photoshopped pictures of Davis in a homosexual fashion. The pictures upset Davis, causing him to confront Hardy at a UFC 99 press conference. The two continued to argue, but finally agreed to settle it in the cage. After a three round war which could have gone either way, the judges at UFC 99 awarded the fight to Dan Hardy. Marcus Davis stormed out of the cage ignoring Hardy’s attempts to make peace. Davis told reporters that he wants a rematch with Hardy in Ireland or Boston.
[edit] Welterweight Contender
Hardy was expected to return to face Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, but instead would face Mike Swick. Swick was first supposed to fight Martin Kampmann to determine the #1 contender for the Welterweight title, but was injured, so Kampmann faced Hardy's teammate Paul Daley, losing, and taking himself out of the title picture. This left the #1 contender spot open for interpretation, and the UFC tapped Hardy to face Swick for the open spot.
In a good-natured poke at the UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera press conference at MEN Arena in Manchester, Hardy handed Swick a souvenir of his trip to England: a runner-up trophy. Hardy started the joke off with a bit of respect for his opponent.
- "I'd like to thank Mike for giving me the opportunity to fight him because I've always enjoyed watching his fights, and I respect him a lot," Hardy said. "I think it's going to be a great fight."
Then came the punchline.
- "I actually got Mike a little something so he didn't leave England empty handed – just something to remember his journey by," Hardy said. "I got him a runner-up trophy just so he doesn't leave empty handed. I'm going to be busy after the fight answering questions and trying to make a gameplan for Georges St. Pierre."
Swick took the podium shortly after and proudly presented his prize. "Quick" also lived up to his nickname when it came time to issue a witty reply.
- "I want to thank Dan Hardy for this trophy," Swick said. "It means a lot. Coming runner-up in a press conference is pretty cool, but I want everybody to know that I'm going to give this right back to him after our fight."
Hardy was the underdog coming into the fight, but managed to rock Swick early in the first round with a straight right hand which appeared to dent the American's confidence. Swick appeared to be uncomfortable standing toe-to-toe with the Englishman, and Hardy proceeded to rock him again in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Hardy won the fight by unanimous decision, and booked his place as the number 1 contender for Georges St. Pierre's Welterweight title.
Hardy was the first British fighter in UFC history to receive a title shot. UFC President Dana White confirmed at the post-fight press conference that the fight will most likely be held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dan stated in a post-fight interview with Sherdog.com that the next event in Las Vegas (UFC 109) in Febuary is a little to early for him, and would much rather wait. The bout was then scheduled for UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy in Newark, New Jersey. St. Pierre took Hardy down early and often, dominating the action from dominant position. It looked as if St. Pierre would end the fight early in the first as he caught Hardy with a nasty Armbar that seemed destined to end the fight. Hardy refused to tap and somehow escaped the submission attempt. Once again, St. Pierre almost ended the fight again in the fourth with a brutal Kimura attempt, but once again Hardy failed to submit, though his arm was fully extended. In the end, St. Pierre was awarded the Decision (Unanimous) win 50-43, 50-44 and 50-45, to defend his Welterweight title.
[edit] Personal Life
Hardy is a fan of hardcore, punk and metal music.
He has a passion for Art rarely spending a day without a sketch pad in his bag until the age of 22. He gave up his degree in art and design in his final year at Nottingham University to pursue MMA full time.
[edit] Ranks and Titles
- The Cage Warriors Light-Welterweight (73kgs) and Welterweight World titles
- 1st Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo
- Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Eddie Bravo
