UFC Fighter Dan Hardy Implies That He Wants to Shoot Matt Hughes

Yesterday, Hall of Famer Matt Hughes went to his website and uploaded a gallery of photos from his hunting trip to Africa. In that gallery, Hughes and his son pose next to their "trophies" while holding up the weapon they used to kill the animal. 

A hunting trip can be a bonding experience for a father and son, although Dan Hardy did not take kind to the photographs. Hardy has always been a brash talker who can get under the skin of his opponents, although his tweet earlier today may have crossed a line.

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When is open season on ignorant, red neck, misguided, phony-Christian assholes? I would love to shoot some of those. matt-hughes.com/blog1/2012/09/

— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) September 19, 2012

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I can understand standing up for animal rights, and it's not a new practice for someone opposed to hunting to hypothetically play role-reversal with the hunter. However, this seems like Hardy is already looking to secure his next opponent following a bout with Amir Sadollah next week at UFC on Fuel 5.

Back in March, Hardy campaigned for a bout with Hughes in an interview with MMA Weekly Radio.

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I would love to figure that out, that blood thirsty kill freak. I can’t stand the dude…I’d love to get a shot at him, but the thing with Matt Hughes is I don’t like him as a person, but I can’t help but respect him as a fighter. He achieved a lot and I enjoyed watching him fight when he was at his peak…The thing is, at this stage in his career, I know he’s past his peak. I know he’s not looked great in his last few fights, and maybe he’s kind of winding down…I would love to fight him and, if he was willing to take the fight, I would by all means love to get in there and put it on him, but I’m not going to chase after the guy cause he has passed his peak and he may not want to a fight against someone who doesn’t like him as much as me.

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How do you feel about the comment? In a world where fighters are commonly being reprimanded for their Twitter activity, did Hardy cross a line by saying that he would like to shoot Hughes with a gun? Will Dana punish this hate speech? 

Most importantly, are you interested in seeing Dan Hardy vs. Matt Hughes?