What's Next For Dan Hardy: A Look at Potential Opponents

Now that the smoke has cleared since his shot at the Welterweight Title at UFC 111, let's take at look at potential match-ups and opponents on the horizon for "The Outlaw".

At first glance I thought Josh Koschek would be the best match-up for Hardy for many reason including Koschek's wrestling ability and the trash talk by Koschek on how Hardy "didn't deserve the title shot". This match-up fell to the wayside as soon as Kos was penciled in to face Hardy's Team Rough House teammate Paul "Semtex" Daley. 

The widely considered #2 Welterweight in the world Jon Fitch would be a great option but thankfully due to the speedy recovery of Thiago Alves; Fitch vs. Alves 2 which was supposed to take place on the 111 card is now set for UFC 115 in Vancouver.

Now with Alves out of the picture already matched up with Fitch, I thought for sure I knew who Hardy's next oponent would be. Well, I was wrong because Paulo Thiago is now set to face-off with Martin Kampman also on the UFC 115 card that's getting more stacked by the minute.

With Hardy already Defeating Mike Swick and Anthony Johnson sidelined with a knee injury that hasn't been stated as serious or not, and Carlos Condit already spoken for there's not a lot of places for Joe Silva and the Britt to look as far as a worthy opponent and a sell-able match-up.

This leads me to my conclusion in figuring out the only worthy opponent on the horizon for Dan Hardy because it is very doubtful he would fight new found friend and training partner Matt Serra. This opponent would be Matt Hughes. Matt Hughes is a big enough name and is coming off of two straight victories in the octagon over Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie. Hughes is a proverbial fan favorite and one of the best Welterweights of all-time and is a future Hall of Famer. He would have the wrestling prowess to test Hardy to see if he's worked on anything since the GSP fight and also possesses the name recognition that would help to be a PPV draw especially next to promotional machine that Dan Hardy is.

I think this would be a great matchup givin' the state of the Welterweight division and match-up's already on the horizon, hopefully the UFC put it together.