Dan Hardy:"On March 27 the UFC welterweight title will belong to England."

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Dan Hardy is making sure that he gives himself plenty of time to adjust, as he prepares to fly into New York from England well ahead of his championship showdown with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111 on March 27.

Hardy earned his shot at the welterweight title with a victory over Mike Swick at UFC 105 last November in Manchester, England. Now he will have the opportunity to become the first British champion in UFC history, though to do so he will have to defeat one of the most dominant fighters in the sport in St. Pierre.

Despite the added pressure and scrutiny of entering the title fight as a heavy underdog, Hardy has remained relaxed and confident as he gets ready for the biggest fight of his career.

"I'm already in fight shape, and I am just ticking over and fine-tuning my game plans for the fight with Georges St-Pierre on March 27," Hardy wrote in a blog for thisisnottingham.co.uk. "All four of my previous UFC fights have been in Europe. But I have fought in the USA before and know it is important to get to the New York area a few weeks before fight week. I've got some great training partners lined up out there and will tell you more about it after I've settled in. I'm going to be training with some elite-level guys."

Hardy is as well-known for his sense of humor as he is for his dangerous hands and his trademark Mohawk haircut. Although some people are offended by his jokes, Hardy says that's not his goal.

"I'm happy to entertain, and my sense of humour is one of the ways I keep myself from getting bored during camp," Hardy wrote. "As people have worked out, I am pretty straightforward with my opinions and I tell it like I see it. At the end of the day I don't mind if I offend anyone, but I don't set out with that intention in mind. Usually, I'm trying to have a bit of fun and I like to think I poke fun at myself as much as I do anyone else."

During the buildup to UFC 111, many fans have commented on the fact that Hardy's distinctive stomach tattoo is missing from his photo on the event poster. The missing tattoo is a subject that Hardy would like to clear up once and for all.

"But another item I've read online I'd like to clear up is why my stomach tattoo has been Photoshopped off the official UFC 111 poster," Hardy stated. "Maybe I am the wrong guy to moan about getting Photoshopped, but I'm not really very happy about it and don't understand the reason behind it at all. I've been told the people who designed the poster felt my tattoo would be "too distracting". Well, I'm very happy with my tattoo. But it's not that dazzlingly good that fans are going to focus on that and not read that my name is Dan Hardy and I am fighting champ GSP for the UFC welterweight title on March 27. Makes no sense they airbrushed it out. But some of the guys at the gym have found it very amusing, so at least they got a laugh out of it. Some of the theories out there as to why it was removed were very funny. I had no idea MMA fans were such hardcore conspiracy theorists. If they ever do another series of the "X-Files", the producers should look no further than the MMA fan forums for their writing team."

Hardy also revealed he has something special planned for his entrance music for UFC 111. 

"A lot of you might have noticed that I've been having the same entrance music for my UFC fights, which is "England Belongs to Me" by legendary British punk band, Cock SParrer," Hardy wrote. "They've been really influential in my musical taste, so imagine my surprise when they approached me about going in the studio to re-record the track with them! It was a dream come true and I will be walking out to the new version of the song when I represent England at UFC 111. Don't forget, England Belongs to Me. And on March 27 the UFC welterweight title will belong to England!"