Exclusive: Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy Interview

Dumb-out's Nick Thomas recently had the opportunity to talk with one of the UK MMA scene's brightest stars Dan Hardy and here is what he had to say.

Nick Thomas: What I would like you to do to start the interview is state your name, your gym, and the city your from. Describe your style, and what drew you to MMA.

Dan Hardy: O.K. My name is Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy and I'm fighting of Ruff House, My home town is Nottingham England, and I'm currently training in Los Angeles California.
My style is mainly Muay Thai I like to be wherever the best position is to punch somebody in the face. The thing that drew me into MMA is the fact that I can get in there and test myself against some of the best fighters in the world and not get in trouble for it.

Nick Thomas: Me and my boy were watching a highlight reel of you and I'm pretty sure I felt some of those knees, those were some vicious knees!

Dan Hardy: Yeah they always seem to get the job done the knees do.

Nick Thomas: Do you know who your next opponent is, or do you have a fight scheduled?

Dan Hardy: I have no idea who I'll be fighting next, I've been kinda told that I'll be fighting in November that will be on the U.K. card, but I don't know who yet. There have been a few names thrown around like Phil Baroni and people like that, but I don't know you know, I'm just ready to fight whoever the UFC put in front of me.

Nick Thomas: Wow, now that would be great television! Dan "The Outlaw" hardy Vs. Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni are you kidding me that would be ridiculous!

Dan Hardy: (Laughs) It would be like the trash talk of the century.

Nick Thomas: That fight would be up at the top of the card for sure.

Dan Hardy: Yeah I think so.

Nick Thomas: Is there anyone you would like to call out or anyone you really want to fight? I know you want to fight the best in the welterweight division, but is there anyone specific you would like to test your skills against?

Dan Hardy: No, you know to be honest as boring as it sounds I'm up for fighting anyone at the moment. I made it quite clear to everybody who I wanted to fight in my last fight and I managed to get that and get the win under my belt as well. To be honest now I'm interested in seeing what the UFC wants to do with me. See who they want to put me up against. A lot of the guys I thought I might end up fighting seem to have been matched up already. You know like Yoshida or maybe Condit or someone like that, but all of those guys have been matched up now so I'm left with different options to what I thought I would have. You know Matt Hughes and Matt Serra haven't got any opponents lined up maybe one of those would be good, you know Phil Baroni like I said has just been signed and I like to read the forums and see what the fights the fans want to see and you know Baroni seems to be coming up quite a bit. But I really dont mind now I'm looking forward to sort of putting my hand in a bag and seeing who I pull out. Whoever it is you can guarantee it's going to be an exciting fight and you can guarantee I'm going to be trying to put the beat down on them for the full fifteen minutes.

Nick Thomas: Exactly, it doesn't really matter out of all those fighters that you named I would give you a really good chance at winning any of those fights. Paul Daley just signed with the UFC and you guys trained at the same gym, would you ever consider fighting a guy that you know that well or does it really matter?


Dan Hardy: Well you know myself and Paul we started off together. I used to corner for him in his earlier fights and it was actually Paul that lined up my first MMA fight. So you know we still train together you know I've been chattin to him today and were still in contact and whenever were in the UK together we always train together so. I'm sure that if it came down to one of us holding the belt and one of us being a contender then we would put our friendship aside and fight for the belt, but other than that I don't think we would end up fighting each other because there are so many other guys in the division that we could fight that we really don't need to be fighting each other until one of us is holding the belt.

Nick Thomas: If its for the belt I can see exactly what your saying.

Dan Hardy: Yeah its the same with the A.K.A. guys you know where you've got Fitch, Swick, and Koscheck all fighting in the same gym and none of those guys are fighting each other but I'm sure that if one of them won the title then everybody would be gunnin for them so. I know it's not a team sport but it's nice to have a team behind you ya know.

Nick Thomas: Personally I'd like to see you fight Koscheck actually.

Dan Hardy: I think that would be a great fight yeah.

Nick Thomas: I would like to see that a lot. What did it feel like the first time you actually stepped in the Octagon? Was it just like any fight or could you really feel the energy?

Dan Hardy: Oh the atmosphere was amazing. You know UFC 89 in Birmingham and I got drew up against a tough opponent in Gono as well he's a real spoiler and he can make anybody look bad. It was just to be honest my main focus in that fight was just to put on a good show and make sure I was trying to push the pace. More than anything the feeling that I got when I stepped in to the Octagon was relief. I've been training for twenty one years now and for the past ten years of my life now I've been aiming for the UFC and I kinda felt like I'd arrived, I stepped inside the Octagon and I felt like I was home, I felt like I was in the place I should be. I was just able to enjoy the moment you know I enjoyed being in there and enjoying the atmosphere and interacting with the fans and then obviously the fight was awesome as well because being able to fight someone like Gono was fantastic.

Nick Thomas: I have another question here, the UK and America are each others biggest Allys when it comes to war. Why do you think its such a heated rivalry when it comes to MMA and Boxing? Like when Ricky Hatton came over here and he was totally backed by his fans and then the whole Bisping / Dan Henderson. It just seems like every time that the UK and American fighters are matched up against each other in big competition it just gets huge and what do you think is behind that?

Dan Hardy: Well what you've gotta bear in mind that England is a small country its probably smaller than California so for us to produce athletes that can compete on a world stage is its a big deal for the UK fans. I think to be honest its partly the fact that the UK fans are saying now we have someone that can compete that kind of stirs up the rivalry a little bit. I mean obviously the American fans don't like foreign opponents coming over here and winning fights but you know weve got guys now that can compete with the American fighters. Because you know its still relatively new that we have British fighters that can compete on the international scene. I think the UFC are kinda playing on the rivalry a little bit you know they're putting British fighters up against American fighters and purposely creating a little rivalry to sell tickets which is great you know its nice that the UK fans have some British fighters to get behind because it's still relatively new. I think it was back at UFC 38 when the UFC came over to the UK and we had a few British guys on the card I think we had four guys on the card Ian Freeman and Mark Weir and a couple others. That kinda came and went and now we've got guys that are regularly fighting on UFC shows and they're able to compete with American fighters and Brazilian fighters and Japanese as well and you know its still relatively new so its nice that the British fans have someone to get behind. I think that the UFC are kinda pushing the British fighters to create a fan base over there and its working and its great. And I mean it's all light hearted though.

Nick Thomas: Yeah I agree with you its just a fun rivalry, I work with a guy who grew up in the UK and we were going back and forth during the last season of TUF joking around its just all in fun but it makes for the event to be that much better and bigger to have that rivalry.

Dan Hardy: It's good that the UK fighters have the chance to get on the UFC and get some fights under their belt as well you know because its a big deal for MMA in the UK.

Nick Thomas: I agree. What kins of legacy would you like to leave behind when you're done with fighting? All said and done who is The Outlaw, what do you want people to say about you?

Dan Hardy: I just want people to be able to remember my fights. The guy that went in there and was always exciting and was always up for a good scrap and just enjoyed being in there you know and enjoyed spending time with the fans and just giving it everything he's got. I think more than anything that's whats important to me, just to be remembered as you know Dan Hardy I remember that guy, that dude was awesome to watch. I just want to be remembered for going out there and putting on a show and entertaining the fans.

Audio from the interview is below: