Dan Hardy Is Healthy But Still Not Cleared To Fight
Dan Hardy has long been a fan favorite for his aggressive fighting style and heavy hands. The Brit is a real entertainer, scoring 16 finishes in 25 victories. The Outlaw was 19-6-1 before joining the UFC, debuting against Akihiro Gono at UFC 89 he scored a split decision victory.
His second Ufc bout was a KO win against Rory Markham. Hardy put together a beautiful combo one minute in to the opening round, scoring his first UFC finish in front of his home crowd in the United Kingdom.
After beating Marcud Davis and Mike Swick, Hardy got the call to fight Georges St-Pierre after only being with the promotion 13 months. His 170lb. title shot did not go how he had wanted, GSP threw Hardy around at will. Here began a losing skid that would see The Outlaw finished by Carlos Condit and Chris Lytle, and also wrestled to death by Anthony Johnson.
Hardy needed to go back to the drawing board and, after a six month layoff, he knocked out Duane Ludwig at UFC 146. He then Battered Amir Sadollah over three rounds at UFC on FX last September, and things seemed to be looking up for the 31 year old.
He was soon booked to face Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 7, but was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Brown ended up mauling Hardy’s replacement, Jordan Mein, and is now in the frame for a big fight against Carlos Condit.
WPW syndrome is a heart condition, meaning that Hardy is unable to get medically cleared to fight in the UFC at present. Hardy is in danger of being sidelined for too long and having the MMA world pass him by, the fighting side of it anyway.
The 170lb. division is always deep in talent and Hardy has already been laid up for a year. In that time the division has become grid locked at the top end, and the top 10 are pretty much all keys to a title shot.
Hardy spoke with MMA Interviews during the recent Mr. Olympia expo, detailing his current training and health status. He claims to be training boxing, Yoga and cross fit and says he is healthy. The only thing he needs to fight is a doctor’s note. Let’s just hope he can get one soon enough.
