Dan Hardy has been providing interesting opinions ever since he was fired by UFC. The UFC vet was a staple on the broadcasts for a while until he started having issues with company policies.
In the past Hardy has butted heads with the brass going so far as to call Chimaev Diaz matchmaking very cruel in addition to pointing out weigh in snafus around UFC 280.
In addition to this, Hardy also elaborated on another incident that took place in Abu Dhabi. Hardy was dismayed when during Hollway vs Kattar UFC panned to Dana White who claimed he wanted Kattar taken straight to the hospital afterwards.
Hardy claimed this was a staged moment on the broadcast meant to protect UFC if something were to happen to Kattar. Kattar absorbed most strikes ever during a single bout in that main event.
White shot down the accusations the moment was staged and claimed he was filming something else at the time which is why he was mic-ed.
He went on to say Hardy was fired for an incident involving a female UFC employee.
On Sunday, Dan Hardy responded to UFC President Dana White, once again denying that he treated a female employee inappropriately.
Hardy responded,
“I don’t give a f***. I owe nobody anything. I’m beholden to nobody. This is my microphone, this is my channel. I can say what I like.”
“I might be mouthy, but I’m never going to be mistreating a woman, a female employee — I would never. Anyone that’s worked with me would know that. Anybody that knows me would know that.”
Hardy reiterated his version of the incidents that led to his resignation. Hardy now runs the YouTube channel Full Reptile and continues to work as an MMA commentator for BT Sport.
Hardy said:
“So you ask me if I’m bitter, yeah, I’m probably a little bit bitter, but ultimately what I wanted to do is let you guys know that I see the game that’s been played.”
“Mistreating a woman? Unbelievable. It was a colleague of mine that I had known and had been working with as a fighter and as an ambassador for the UFC for probably 12, 15 years.”
“To this day, I’m constantly hearing about it how obstructive and difficult she is to work with. I’m not making this up. People know this. There’s a lot of people listening right now who know exactly who this person is, and they could vouch for me, but they can’t vouch for me, because if you speak out, your media credentials are gone. You don’t get access. They’ll attack your sponsors. They’ll do whatever they can do maintain control.”
Hardy said he had given up attempting to be polite after working behind the scenes and then clashing with the promotion from an outsider’s standpoint.
“There’s a lot of bulls*** in this sport, a lot of bulls*** in this industry. Unfortunately, corporation has taken over, and I am not a corporation person. I’m an MMA nerd that sits in my room and researches.”
“I don’t do all the schmoozing… So my relationship to the UFC and anything else is irrelevant to me, because I’ve rediscovered my love of martial arts. After going through this mire of f****** nonsense, I’ve arrived at this point when I realized that this is where I’m supposed to be.”
“There are people in there that I hope and trust would be able to stand up and say the right thing, and constantly, they f****** let me down. Constantly, I see people that should be speaking up and saying, ‘Hang on a minute, that’s not right, that scale didn’t settle. Who are you? You work for the organization, you shouldn’t even be touching the scales.’ I see constantly this nonsense, these shenanigans, this f******, and there’s no reason why I can’t tell you about it any more.”
Hardy cited the inclusion of advertisements promoting White’s slap-fighting league during this past Saturday’s UFC 280 broadcast as one of the most recent instances of the UFC’s deceit.
Hardy remarked,
“I know what we’ll do. We love our athletes, we care about them so much, let’s start a f****** slap fight league. Let’s trade concussions for cash. I mean, c’mon.”
“And you’re going to advertise that to me while I’m trying to watch MMA, while I’m trying to watch my sport? C’mon. Say one thing, do another. Say one thing, talk some s***, do another. It’s the same pattern, over and over again.”
He added: “How did that become a thing? I wonder, back in the old MMA days, if anybody was watching MMA and feeling like I do about slap fighting now, because I’m sure they did.”
“I had a long conversation with somebody about, ‘Oh it’s this and that, it’s human cockfighting.’ But I can’t, for the life of me, understand the endeavor of slap fighting, aside from to make a bit of cash and get some [followers] for your Instagram. It’s cashing in on f****** brain trauma.”
After a highly public back-and-forth and recent statements made by White, Hardy said he had given up on the UFC and was unwilling to discuss their turbulent history.
“You can say what you like at the press conference. I don’t care. I don’t give a f*** what you think either, Dana. I don’t, honestly. I did once, and there are a lot of fighters out there that do give a f*** what you think, but they give a f*** what you think because you’re in control.”
“They wouldn’t look at you on the street if you weren’t in control of the UFC, and certainly not the way you treat people. Jesus. People will wake up one day, they’ll wake up — slowly, people are doing it. And if you have enough thorns in your side, eventually you’re going to bleed out. Don’t ever forget that.”