Dan Hardy: Harmless Enigma or Legitimate Threat?

If there is one word used to properly classify Dan Hardy, it’s fearless. Sure, it’s a word commonly used by fighters to motivate themselves to take on a bigger or more talented opponent, but not Hardy. He has a sound confidence in his abilities—confidence that apparently cannot be deterred, even by rabid fans that are not shy about making him the underdog and not coming up short of trying to shout him into submission in anticipation of his upcoming title fight against Georges St. Pierre.

In fact, Hardy has openly stated that he loves being the underdog as it allows him to not worry about the outcome as much as the fighter who is defending the title. This mentality can be beneficial to a fighter in the Octagon, especially to one that has won all his UFC fights to date. Just how beneficial, though?

When asked about why he turned down the first offer to join the UFC during a recent interview, Hardy candidly said, “The timing wasn’t right for me…I’d not beaten the right guys and…I just felt it was too early on in my career...and to have taken the offer any earlier would have been way too soon.” He doesn’t make a habit of lying, and honesty seems to roll off the tongue of “The Outlaw” without any effort.

But has he overstepped his boundaries by predicting that he will beat St. Pierre? Statistically speaking, he probably has, but he mysteriously doesn’t seem to care much about numbers. Many UFC fans consider this Octagonal suicide, but Hardy enjoys the hype as he doesn’t feel the pressure. And when looking at his reasoning, he’s right: he really does have nothing to worry about; St. Pierre is the only one living with that burden.

There is no doubt about it: Hardy is both the underdog on paper and by common sense. St. Pierre easily took down the massive, dangerous striker Thiago Silva at will. Take this most recent display of dominance with St. Pierre’s 19-2 record and six fight win streak that includes victories over the likes of BJ Penn, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, anyone going into the ring with the best wrestler in the UFC should be afraid, right? Not Hardy. Oddly enough, it seems as though he is counting on the disparity between himself and St. Pierre to make a statement of some kind, but other than saying he plans to win, there is no strategic premise to why he’s fighting and, more uncannily, why he’s so confident.

Admittedly, most Americans think Hardy will be a pushover come fight night. When asked about his strategy, he candidly states that he does not plan to outwrestle or even try to submit St. Pierre; instead, he plans to “hit him as many times as [he] can in the face in twenty-five minutes and hopefully connect with that one shot that’s gonna put him to sleep.” In offering his simple strategy, Hardy really does prove that he is fearless when it comes to St. Pierre. He has no secrets, he knows he is the underdog, yet he abnormally persists in confidently announcing that he plans to win against the seemingly indomitable GSP through measures that he refuses to keep secret.

We all know he has the capability to win a championship bout as does any fighter in the UFC, but why a relatively new fighter to the UFC is so certain that he is the dark horse coming to dethrone St. Pierre is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, Hardy’s sound judgment and competent foresight before joining the UFC show an analytical side that should be taken into account by his critics. If one thing’s true, it’s that Hardy is very smart. He’s not one to hurry in the Octagon, and we shouldn’t plan to see a quick fight.

Hardy could very well be the dark horse that shocks the world. So can “The Outlaw” pull off a victory? We will know soon; but until then, we have no choice but to look at the fight on paper. One thing is for sure, though: this will either be the most predictable, one-sided fight the UFC has had in a while, or it will be the most exciting, biggest upset in the Octagon. Not even Hardy would object to that.