The MMA world and the boxing world seem to cross paths on a regular basis these days. With James Toney signing with the UFC and Ricardo Mayorga fighting in Shine, the appeal to put boxing and MMA in the same sentence is a topic of conversation quite a bit these days.
A big boxing match took place last weekend in Dallas when arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport Manny Pacquiao defeated Joshua Clottey in what has been regarded as a very lackluster, and unexciting fight.
UFC welterweight contender Dan Hardy weighed in on boxing during a media conference call on Tuesday, where even he as an admitted boxing fan doesn't like the sport nearly as much these days.
"I've always been a huge fan of boxing, I'm really selective about what boxers I watch, and about what fights I watch," said Hardy.
"I would say probably unfortunately now 50 or 60% of the time I've watched a boxing match I've been looking forward to, I kind of feel like I've been robbed of 45-minutes of my life."
Hardy talked about the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight, and the style that bores him in the ring.
"In a boxing ring to a certain extent the boxers can hide," said Hardy. "Clottey didn't really want to fight Pacquiao, he didn't come to win. It was kind of like my fight against (Akihiro) Gono, my first fight in the UFC. The guy didn't come to win, and they're not my kind of fights. I really struggle to watch those kinds of people."
Still, growing up a boxing fan, Hardy likes the sport for certain fighters, but also feels that the excitement and adrenaline surrounding MMA are some of the reasons why the sport is blowing up world wide.
"I like guys who are taking the risks, who are putting their neck on the line," said Hardy.
"People need to see that intensity in the fight. That's what boxing's losing, don't get me wrong, there's some fantastic fighters out there, and I'll always watch the big boxing matches when they come on, but at the end of the show I'm not always happy I've watched it."
The fight between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis seemed to reach a fever pitch when the two squared off at UFC 99 last year, but the war of words didn't end there.
Prior to the fight, Hardy did everything in his power to rile up the Irishman, and he accomplished his goal. A Photoshop contest amongst fans, and some well placed trash talk, brought Davis to a frenzy before their fight ever happened.
Right after the fight, Hardy admitted that it was all part of a strategy to get into Davis' head and earn a shot at the Maine based fighter. Still even though the fight seemed over, Davis fired back just weeks ago via his Twitter account stating, "I hope Dan Hardy dies of AIDS."
The comment was eventually deleted, but Hardy says that Davis obviously didn't know when enough was enough.
"Some people can't see it for what it is. Obviously with Marcus Davis making a comment like that it obviously proves he can't deal with the situation, and he doesn't get it," Hardy commented recently when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio.
"Apparently the Photoshops that I helped create were completely unacceptable, yet he makes a comment like that (and) it's okay? I don't understand where his logic lies."
Hardy admits that psychological warfare goes a long way, and he's become a master of that particular trade.
"Any time you can use any psychological warfare, it's different for every fighter," Hardy said. "The Marcus Davis fight was a blatant, outright, I'm going to punk him, I'm going to make him look stupid, and you're going to get crazy and lose your mind.
"Mike Swick was a little bit more fun, a little bit more jokey, but when it got to the end of the build up of the fight, he'd been expecting me to say all kinds of stuff that he didn't know really how to deal with it. He didn't know how to prepare himself for what was to come."
Hardy's teammate, Paul Daley, has started a similar campaign for his upcoming UFC 113 fight against Josh Koscheck. Daley encouraged fans to Photoshop a new haircut for Koscheck ahead of their fight, and when Hardy was asked if he would possibly put the best photo on his walkout t-shirt for UFC 113?
"Don’t give him any ideas, you know he will," Hardy responded.
A long time fan of metal, punk and hardcore, UFC 111 main eventer Dan Hardy will test out his vocal chops when he debuts a version of the Cock Sparrer classic, "England Belongs To Me" with "The Outlaw" providing vocals for the track.
Hardy talked about his choice of songs when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio earlier this week.
"I'm using some traditional British punk again. I'll be using the same song, "England Belongs To Me" by Cock Sparrer, but this is a re-recorded version with me putting the vocals on it, so an interesting one," Hardy said about his UFC 111 entrance song. "It's got a bit more balls than the last one as well."
Growing up as a metal fan in England, Hardy says he started out with the classics and still follows his love of music to this day.
"My favorite band when I was younger was Megadeth," said Hardy. "I just went from them to Pantera, and Slayer, and then I just started getting into hardcore, Earth Crisis and Madball, and I also listen to a lot of the British punk and ska, like Madness and The Clash and bands like that."
The new track with Hardy's vocals will debut at UFC 111 in New Jersey. Check out the original below.
An extended video preview of the upcoming UFC 111 fight card in New Jersey. UFC 111 is headed up by a welterweight title bout between champion Georges St-Pierre and Brit Dan Hardy, plus a heavyweight interim title bout between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin.
UFC welterweight contender Dan Hardy thinks countryman Michael Bisping defeated Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110.
"I was a little disappointed. To be honest, in my opinion, it was either a draw or Bisping just edged it," Hardy told TapouT Radio. "I think the thing that hurt him was the knockdown at the final bell, but I thought Bisping did great.
"He looked good. He was moving well. He was countering well. It was just unfortunate that he couldn't have pushed the pace just a little bit more," addd Hardy.
"Wanderlei is very aggressive and looked great at that weight as well. It was an off night, but he'll be back. I thought it was a good performance."
Hardy and Bisping are both Englishmen, but train at different camps.
Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis went to war -- a war of words -- well before they ever set foot in the Octagon at UFC 99. But all has been quiet on the home front leading up to Hardy's next challenge, a number one contender bout with Mike Swick at UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera this Saturday... until now.
At Thursday's UFC 105 pre-fight press conference, Hardy finally started a little jabbing, although never getting into the heavy leather he and Davis shared before their fight.
When Hardy took the dais before the media, he thanked the UFC for the opportunity to show he belongs at this level, but quickly moved on to Swick, "I just want to thank the UFC for giving me this opportunity. I'm here to make a point and show I belong here. I'd like to thank Mike for giving me the opportunity to fight him. I've always enjoyed his fights and I respect him a lot.
"I actually got Mike a bit something so he didn't leave England empty-handed, just something to remember his journey by. I got him a runner-up trophy... I'm gonna be busy after the fight, answering questions, and sorting a game plan for Georges St. Pierre, so thanks Mike."
Not wasting any time in returning the good-natured barb, Swick responded in kind with a gracious acceptance speech, saying, "I want to first thank the UFC for having me on this card. To get this opportunity against Dan Hardy has been great.
"I want to thank Dan Hardy for this trophy. It means a lot. Coming up runner-up in a press conference is pretty cool, but I just want everybody to know I'm gonna give this right back to him after our fight. My corner guys will carry this to the Octagon, but I'll keep it for now."
They don't call him Mike "Quick" Swick for nothing!
This is a look inside Mike's training for his bout against Dan Hardy at UFC 105 in Manchester England. On day one across the pond, Mike takes you for a behind the scenes look at his super top secret training session. Not even Mike knew where this session would be or what was on the agenda until he arrived. Then immediately following, he got zapped by the memory erasing pen from "Men In Black" and only has this video to reflect upon....
MMAInsider caught up with UFC welterweight Dan Hardy in Los Angeles as he prepared for the festivities of July 4 -- namely, taking on grill duties and eating everything in sight.
A speculative match-up that recently made the internet rounds was Carlos Condit. Good match-up: Condit has solid Muay Thai skills and is great off his back. Hardy is an excellent kickboxer and showed he's no slouch on the mat against Marcus Davis at UFC 99.
With Martin Kampmann and Mike Swick doing battle in September for what could be the next contender slot, Condit coming off a loss to Kampmann after a long run as WEC champ, and Hardy continuing to build his name, one might think, why not?
For one, Hardy is a less excited, and what's more, he's taking a backseat in the next fight of his UFC career.
"I've seen Condit come up quite a bit and a few others as well. I think it's a great fight. I really don't mind who they pick. Obviously with me being quite aggressive about picking my last fight, I'm kind of looking forward to handing this one over to Joe Silva, and letting him pick the fight for me."
Most fans believe Condit would have the advantage on the ground, and Hardy doesn't necessarily disagree. But for those who think he would be a submission victim, he begs to differ.
"Realistically, he probably does have a slight advantage on the ground if you look at his record, because he has a lot more submissions than I have. But for my last three fights, I've been destined to get my ass kicked by every one of them and it hasn't happened yet, so at some point people are going to stop doubting me and realize that I'm not such a pushover."
From his perspective, their recent records say more about the fight's likelihood.
"He's coming off a loss and I'm coming off three wins, so I don't know whether the UFC will see that as a viable fight for me," he said. "Maybe he should get someone like Davis next, I don’t know. I really don’t know what value it would be to me, to be honest, apart from being fun."
At the moment, he has nothing booked, but a fall return is his preference.
"I'm just waiting around at the moment," he said. "I think it's going to be sometime in October or November."
The war of words between UFC welterweights Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy. How it got started and why this fight may not last very long at UFC 99. Who wins this grudge match?
UFC welterweight Dan Hardy considers himself an Englishman in LA.
The 26 year-old Nottingham native spends most of his days with his girlfriend in the City of Angels. Only training camps take him from the city.
In addition to his usual work with grappling guru Eddie Bravo, Hardy is the latest MMA fighter to find Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym. It's also around the corner from his LA apartment, which made directions easy.
"There's always things to work on," Hardy said of the experience. "I'm not perfect at any range, so I've always got to keep working. It's just a good opportunity to work with a guy like Freddie. It's interesting to hear his opinions on MMA, how he sees the range is different from MMA and boxing.
He also worked with Michael Moorer, a multi-title boxing champion and one of Roach's early students that now coaches.
"He's a great southpaw," Hardy said of Moorer. "It's interesting getting his viewpoint on southpaws fighting orthodox fighters, because Marcus Davis is a southpaw as well. I've got some good input from the guys, like controlling the range and landing cleaner shots without getting caught. Kind of similar to my last fight."
Last week, he went to Germany to visit with US troops, and heads back to his hometown afterwards to begin preparation for a contentious fight with Marcus Davis at UFC 99.
"It's just a perfect fight for me, and I think he realizes that his time's come with his hold over the UK," said Hardy. "This is going to be the last fight against a British fighter."
The UFC treated fans watching UFC 95 on Setanta Sports to all 10 bouts on Saturday night in England. Even the British fans that weren't able to attend were able to see their countrymen fight, most of which faired well.
The fans that did make it to the O2 Arena treated the UFC to a strong attendance of 13,268, totaling ticket revenue of slightly more than $1 million U.S. Both are considered strong numbers during tough economic times, especially with a fight card sans a championship bout.
Diego Sanchez, making his 155-pound debut, and Joe Stevenson were top bill at UFC 95, providing fans with the Fight of the Night. They battled through all three rounds before Sanchez scored a unanimous decision victory.
Dan Hardy, Terry Etim, and Paul Kelly, were all victorious, giving the British fans much to cheer for, although big Neil Grove was unable to do the same.
At a Q & A session for this weekend's UFC 95, Marcus Davis spoke to English fans about possibilities for his fighting future.
One strong candidate seemed to be Dan Hardy, who faces Davis' former training partner in Rory Markham tomorrow.
Davis respected Hardy's talent, but in six appearances across the pond, four of his opponents have been Brits.
"This is the thing," Davis explained. "I wanna stop fighting British guys (in England). Now I say bring me Americans. I hear a lot about fighting Dan, I think he is a good fighter, great stand-up and a good record. I think it would be an interesting fight. But I just hope we don't do it here."
Later, Davis hinted that the UFC's German debut in June may be the place for them to do battle.
"Not a definite thing, but hearing that I may be fighting in Germany," said Davis. "I think they are looking at this card for possible opponents, obviously Hardy has been mentioned, but he is fighting a powerhouse friend of mine in Rory Markham, so it's a case of do I pull for Markham as a friend or pull for Hardy for me to fight?"
The UFC's plans for Davis go beyond this summer, as well.
UFC brass, particularly UK head Marshall Zelaznik, have mentioned the possibility of bringing Davis back to Ireland for a headlining fight on St. Patty's day, assuming he stays on the winning track. Davis said he might split his time between the States and his native land.
"I am looking at purchasing a home over here in the Summer, and were talking about opening a Team Sitodyong/Team Irish over here, so we have to see how that goes," said Davis.
In regards to the "tough opponent" he desired for a possible St. Patty's day fight, an early career defeat stuck out.
"Thiago Alves and I have history," said Davis. "I lost a split division on the score card, so we have history. We're different fighters now, that was both our third professional fights, I had no background on the ground, and that is a fight I would love to do."
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