Dan Hardy: I Can't Wait to Fight in the UFC

Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy has spoken about his excitement at signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The outstanding British Welterweight could not hide his excitement when he talked to uk.ufc.com:

“It means everything to finally be at the pinnacle of mixed martial arts. Even kids who have never taken a martial arts class in their life dream about fighting in the UFC – it is the Premier League of MMA and there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I cannot wait to step into the Octagon and showcase myself on the biggest stage in MMA.”

“I feel I’ve come to the UFC at exactly the right time. Since the UFC came back to England last spring, everywhere I’ve gone people have asked me when I was going to sign with the UFC and why I wasn’t in the UFC yet.

“The plan was always to fight in the UFC when I felt I was 100% ready. But there were things I felt, as a fighter, I needed to work on before I made my UFC debut. I probably could have fought in the UFC before now, but I wanted to work on my skills, my BJJ and my wrestling. I have trained as a striker since I was six years old, but have really worked very hard on my ground game over the last four years, including working with Eddie Bravo out in the States, and I feel I've got one of the most well rounded games of any fighter in Europe."

Hardy went on to talk about his two recent fights - which he took even though a loss may have jeopardized his contract. “The Outlaw” beat Chad Reiner at Cage Warriors: Enter the Rough House 6 then defeated top German Daniel Weichel at Ultimate Force: Punishment.

“The Outlaw” explained why he went ahead with the Weichel fight:

“After eight years of dreaming about it, I had a UFC contract waiting for me to sign and send back to Las Vegas. I literally had my hands on it, on the day of the fight and could have just signed it and become a UFC fighter and to hell with the fight that night. But I wanted to come to the UFC with as much momentum as possible, I wanted to fight."

"I'd not fought since 2007 and didn't want any rust to set in. But when I stepped into the arena, it suddenly occurred to me just what was on the line in this fight... I was close to getting into the UFC, but if I lost this fight I knew I could kiss that goodbye. I thought just what was on the line for me, and that brought its own pressure. But I’ve fought hometown (favourites) in Japan and dealt with other high pressure situations before. After a couple of minutes I settled into the fight and stopped him in the second round.”

With the contract now secure - Hardy is ready to do his thing in the UFC:

“It is great to have the support of the British MMA crowd, but I don’t feel any pressure to prove myself to be the most exciting fighter to come out of the UK."

“I’m thrilled I am considered one of the most exciting fighters out there, but it is not something I am conscious of when I fight. I don’t think I have got to be as exciting as possible again tonight’, I just fight my fight in my usual style.”