UFC veteran Dan Hardy had transitioned from being a mixed martial artist into being an analyst. But his tenure at the UFC came to a close after Hardy chose to air out some of his grievances during a UFC card in Abu Dhabi. He recently revealed he joined PFL as the head of European operations.
The Englishman is 40 years old and had been out of the professional MMA game for years.
Hardy first mentioned some time last year that he was in talks to box Woodley. At the time he was also having discussions with ONE FC and other promotions. Hardy retired years ago due to a heart issue he was reluctant to get an operation on. But according to Hardy himself, his new medicals clear him to compete in combat sports.
He last competed in the UFC in September of 2012 – against Amir Sadollah. His MMA record consists of 25 wins 10 losses and 1 no contest.
In an interview with talkSPORT, Hardy humorously noted that his takedown defense, wrestling, and ground game were terrible and that he loves a good punch up.
“If he wants an opponent in MMA, I’m ideal.”
“I’m 40, I’ve been out of it for ten years now, my takedown defense sucks, my wrestling is terrible, I’ve got no ground game and I love a punch up.”
Hardy said: “I’ve spoken with Jake Paul’s manager a couple of times for various different reasons.
“So, I am in contact with the camp, but we’ll see what happens.
“I think he’s planning another boxing match first and I think he’ll be doing a lot more promotional work than competing with the PFL.”
Hardy recently got married to another UFC star – Veronica Macedo Hardy. Veronica Hardy will be competing on the London Card this weekend against TUF winner Juliana Miller. Veronica has an MMA record consisting of 6 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. She’s been with the UFC since 2016 but was never able to compete consistently. Her outings typically had a couple years between them. This time, she took a 3 year break presumably due to injuries. In her last appearance in the cage she dropped an unanimous decision to Bea Malecki in 2020. She is a native of Venezuela.
In her spare time, Veronica Hardy commentates on Ares FC – which is owned by Paris MMA Factory’s Fernand Lopez.
While Hardy is in contact with Paul’s camp, he believes that the YouTuber will first be participating in another boxing match and doing more promotional work before competing in the PFL.
PFL executive previously clarified that he doesn’t see Paul making his MMA debut prior to 2024.
“So his ability to raise the brand of PFL and raise the engagement profile of fights he is not in is the biggest deal in the biggest news here. And it’s already taken effect.”
“The second piece of the deal is him as a fighter eating his own cooking. He’s made over $50 million in just three years and he’s saying, hey, the place I’m choosing in MMA is PFL.”
“This is the best platform and I’m going to be the first fighter to sign to this platform. So he is essentially saying, I’m going to eat my own cooking here. And now as a fighter, I think what he’s impressed everybody by whether you love him or hate him, whether you think he’s going to win or whether he’s going to lose, he does the work.”
“He does the work. He is not taking MMA lightly. So is he going to be ready this year? No. Is he already starting to work? Yes. Will he essentially evolve as a fighter?”
Davis went on to clarify he expects March 2024 debut for Paul:
” I think it’s most likely his first fight will be this time next year.”