UFC 120: Five Reasons You Won’t Want To Miss Dan Hardy Vs. Carlos Condit

For a card that'll be aired live on Spike TV, UFC 120 looks to be not only one of the most promising cards of the year but also quite possibly the most underrated UFC card of the year.

This is a card in which you have some of today's brightest international stars on tap, and although the bout's main card doesn't feature Spencer Fisher, Cyrille Diabate or James McSweeney, the card from the prelims up to the Michael Bisping-Yoshihiro Akiyama main event, features exciting action from all five UFC weight classes.

The Count will have his hands full with Sexyama without question, but trust me when I tell you that this is one of those cards in which not only the main event is a standout.

The co-main event features GSP's most recent contender Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy and the WEC's last-ever Welterweight Champion, "The Nautral Born Killer" Carlos Condit, lest we forget.

Are you still not convinced that Hardy and Condit are solid enough to make the card a not-miss?

Because the way I look at it, this fight is a fight you don't want to miss, and we all know that the "you-don't-wanna-miss-this" fights make the cards that everyone says you "won't want to miss".

Maybe I can convince you that this fight will make UFC 120 worth watching in one reason...

Nah, scratch that.

You get FIVE reasons why you won't want to miss it when The Outlaw meets The Natural Born Killer.

5. The Trash Talk The Outlaw Has Had

Now I don't get any impressions of Condit being the guy that gives Chael Sonnen a run for his money when it comes to being a pound-for-pound great" as a trash-talker.

Hardy, on the other hand, is coming slightly close to the top 10, if trash talk counts anything towards the P4P ranks.

The way I understand it, although I've really only seen Hardy's side of the trash talk, is that it was Condit who asked to fight Hardy after beating Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.

Since then, Hardy has gone on to say that he's going to choke Condit out and that he volunteered for a savage beating.

Condit went on to say, in the same article put out in which Hardy said he was going to choke Condit out, that he asked for Hardy because—as many, including myself, would agree—"The Outlaw" is never in a boring fight, no matter what end of the decision he comes out on.

It'll be interesting to see if Hardy can back up every word that he's said about Condit in the pre-fight interviews that he's done recently, or if the "NBK" can wreck a second straight homecoming for a fighter across the cage from him and possibly etch his name into title contention in the process.

4. A Stylistic Clash For The Ages

If they say "styles make fights" and believe it every time, then the addition of a new Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu game to Hardy's arsenal could make this clash into a potential "Match Of The Year" candidate from a stylistic standpoint.

There was never a question of whether Condit was a skilled fighter—the man is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the UFC, and that spells trouble for anyone who thinks they can catch Condit from any angle.

"From any angle" is where Condit can finish anyone, and I don't mean just by knockout.

He's skilled in a number of disciplines, including Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so Condit may be tough to catch in areas on the feet or on the ground unless he winds up trapped against the cage.

Hardy's predominant weakness, as Georges St-Pierre proved at UFC 111, and as Hardy himself has noticed and tried to correct in training, is that he is more of a striker than anything else.

He even said it before his home crowd saw his fight with Rory Markham at UFC 95—he's a type that puts guys to sleep by hitting them clean on the chin, not by choking them out.

The wild card here, though, will be the new weapons in Hardy's arsenal.

After UFC 120, can we finally put it in print that Hardy can actually take down his opponents and that he actually can submit his opponents?

Granted, one of his four submission wins has come by Guillotine Choke, but two submission wins came by punches and one came by an injury that his opponent suffered during the fight, hence the question of whether Hardy can actually get a submission win in the UFC or not.

For those who don't think Hardy can submit anyone in the UFC, The Outlaw gets his chance to prove them all wrong in front of his hometown this Saturday.

3. Hardy's Coming Home, While Condit's Stepping Into Hostile Territory

This one doesn't need a caption long enough to fit an article, as this is straightforward as it is.

Hardy will be coming home to an always-energetic UK crowd, and the last time a hometown boy fought Condit, The Natural Born Killer spoiled that hometown boy's homecoming.

This fight doesn't boil down to the question of whether or not Hardy can be beaten in his native land, but it does spark some interest to note that Condit will once again be stepping into hostile territory when he faces an opponent who is known for having a raucous fight crowd.

2. The Winner Could Be In Line For St-Pierre Or Koscheck

There has been little question of whether Hardy or Condit were ever contenders to a major Welterweight title, but now that Condit has fought off some impressive people and Hardy has faced the champ, people are convinced more than ever that one of them is bound for another crack at some major Welterweight gold.

Hardy's faced the champ for the gold; he knows what it's like to headline a UFC card and to have the UFC Welterweight Champion across from him, but Condit doesn't...

...At least, Condit doesn't yet.

I'd say, if Hardy's trash talk hasn't motivated Condit, a shot at the man who leaves Montreal as UFC Welterweight Champion—and pound-for-pound best Welterweight in Mixed Martial Arts—should be enough motivation to bring every ounce of fight to The Outlaw.

1. This Could Be The Fight Of The Night

Combine the previous four reasons listed here, add in a dash of aggression, a pint of energy and three quarts of fast-paced action—the type of action both men enjoy in a fight atmosphere—and what do you have?

You have just completed a recipe for what could be the Fight of The Night for UFC 120 this Saturday.

Hardy knows he's got a home field advantage, he knows he's either getting a shot at Josh Koscheck or a rematch with GSP—somewhere down the line—if he beats Condit, and he knows that Condit might not be able to withstand the new weapons in his arsenal.

Condit is an altered story but not completely different.

While his striking isn't the best in the Welterweight division, it is solid in its own right and it is safe to say that Condit will have some confidence in his strikes against Hardy, though I'm sure Condit will do well to not keep this fight on the feet for too long.

It's the ground game and the Wrestling prowess of Condit that will give Hardy some hell come Saturday night, but The Outlaw will be up to the task.

Could Hardy's own ground game have improved? Will it be Condit that comes out the better striker?

I could see either coming true, but I don't see any other fight on the card that surpasses this one in terms of excitement.

Dale's Break Down, Part 1: What Does Dan Hardy Have To Do To Beat Carlos Condit?

•  He can't get too strike-happy. Just because he might be a better striker than Condit doesn't mean Condit can't still beat Hardy to a punch if Hardy gets carried away.

•  If he wants to bank on one solid shot putting Condit away, he has to make the shot count. In other words, he better wait for his opening, throw a shot and make sure it rattles the "solid chin" of Condit.

•  If the fight sees the ground, he better sprawl on the take downs and get the back of Condit as quickly as possible, or if he gets taken down, he better use every BJJ technique he knows from Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet system. Yes, that includes the guard...and The Vaporizer, if at all possible.

• If Condit leaves a body part open, it's his for wrenching or cranking, but make sure Condit's gas tank is nearly empty first. If not, then Condit might find a way to fend off the submission.

Dale's Break Down, Part 2: What Does Carlos Condit Have To Do To Beat Dan Hardy?

• Improve the striking game on the feet. Condit's strikes are lethal from the mount, but on the feet, they're not at a level that compliments Condit as a fighter who once was the 170-lb. king in the WEC.

• Stay active on the ground if he takes Hardy there. While Condit can stop Hardy from the bottom, there's no promise that Hardy's BJJ will be non-existant.

• Footwork, footwork, footwork. Keep those feet moving and make Hardy rack his brain to try and figure out if Condit wants to stand and bang or take the fight to the ground...all the while keeping the fight as much in both areas as possible.

• Ears open to the corner. If they say "take Hardy down", Condit should give Hardy a hard time to try and take him down. If they say "stand and trade," Condit should do his damnedest to beat Hardy at his own game.

And if they say "hit Hardy with your groin"...remember Carlos, it worked for GSP.

Dale De Souza is a Man on Fire—or as the regulars of MMA writing call it, a “Correspondent”—for Bleacher Report MMA, as well as a contributor to Sprawl-N-Brawl MMA, RealSportsNet, Sports Haze and Hit The Ropes MMA.

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