Sidelined by the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a disorder of the heart’s electrical system that can lead to a suddenly increased heart-rate, Dan Hardy is currently making a living as a UFC commentator for the European events on Fight Pass. However, the 33-year old former welterweight contender hinted multiple times, that he would love to return to active competition. In a video interview with German outlet GNP1.de, Hardy gave an update on his comeback plans.
“My plan is to get cleared at the end of the year to fight, but I wanna put myself through a full training camp first, so I know that I’m in good condition and can show the doctors that I’m in condition to fight as well. So I still have plans of getting cleared, I still would like to have a couple of more fights, but I’m taking my time and take it day by day at the moment.”
Hardy, never shy of dropping names and getting into public arguments with other fighters, already has a few names in mind, that, in his opinion, could be suitable opponents for a comeback, should it ever happen.
“There are a lot of good fighters out there, particularly at the moment, it seems to be a wealth of strikers. Difficult to pick, really. Who would I like to fight? Well, people I respect, people that will give me a good fight, a good challenge”, Hardy said. “Obviously ‚Cowboy’ (Donald Cerrone) is very active at the moment, he’s been looking really good, he’s a great kickboxer, he’s got good ground game, he would be a tough test for me. K.J. Noons, I never particularly vibed with that guy, but he’s an ex-pro boxer and he fancies himself as a better striker, so that’d be a fun fight. Diego Sanchez, he’s injured at the moment, but I know me and him go back and forth. He called me out from time to time.”
Besides Sanchez being injured and Cerrone being the next challenger for Rafael Dos Anjos’ lightweight title, all of three aforementioned fighters are currently fighting at 155 pounds. Noons might have fought two of his last three fights at 170, but Sanchez even plans to go down to 145. Hardy has spend his UFC career in the 170-pounds welterweight limit.
“There’s a lot of good guys and I’m open to different weight classes as well”, he explained. “I’d be happy to fight guys lighter as well, because I’m a little smaller that I used to be.”
You can watch the whole interview above, where Hardy also dissects UFC Fight Night Berlin, predicts Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald and talks about Carlos Condit’s chances of getting a title shot.