Dan Hardy - Hero or Villain?

A brash, ill-tempered, powerful English-born fighter with a knack for theatrics, it’s got to be Bisping, right? Wrong. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy is quickly following in the footsteps of fellow Brit, Michael Bisping as he carves out his image as a UFC welterweight.
Hardy, with his flashy red and black Mohawk, and various tattoos, was nominated for “The Most Metal Athlete” by Revolver Magazine, but later lost to American extreme athlete, Shawn White. The mouth that his red mouthguard, adorned with sharp fangs, resides in on fight night is quite a nasty one. Hardy can talk some trash and hold his own in doing so with the big boys like Chael Sonnen, but can he back it up?
If going by his title bout versus the impeccable Georges St-Pierre, it doesn’t seem so. He said that he could, ”Give [St-Pierre] hell when the time comes.” and that St-Pierre’s fan’s would be “very disappointed [the next] morning.”
Anyone who saw the Hardy vs. St-Pierre fight knows that it was an incredible show of heart for Hardy, refusing to tap to several tight submissions, a few of which almost left him without an arm to be raised even if he had won the fight. Hardy had no weapons against St-Pierre, and did little offensively to the champion.
One of his most memorable fights, for the outcome as well as the pre-fight theatrics, was his fight with Marcus Davis. It was the age old clash of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hardy was upset with Davis’ beatdowns of several of his countrymen and openly stated that he did not want Davis in England. As Hardy was a native Brit, he went so far as to call Davis a “fake Irishman” for having not been born in Ireland.
The fight was a back and forth battle that saw Hardy prevail, and afterward he claimed the theatrics were simply to hype the fight and get into his opponent’s head. Davis would not hear it and immediately requested a rematch in Ireland or Boston. The rematch never came to fruition, as Davis was cut from the UFC less than a year later.
Hardy has become known for his theatrics and his mouth, and it isn’t clear yet whether he should really be the one talking trash, but one thing is for sure, he is an exciting draw.
His upcoming fight with Chris Lytle, who is arguably the most exciting fighter in the UFC due to his record 8 Award of The Night bonuses. Five of those awards have been Fight of The Night, and the fight with Hardy could be his sixth, and would make Hardy’s first.
The battle between Hardy and Lytle on Sunday will pan out a lot like Hardy’s title attempt against Georges St-Pierre. Lytle’s superior grappling will prevail. Hardy may not get rag dolled like he did against St-Pierre on the ground, as he moved his camp to Las Vegas to train his grappling skills with Roy Nelson, but the second degree black belt, Lytle will easily win the ground battle. That having been said, Lytle will not win this fight by submission. In similar fashion to the title fight, fans will not see Chris Lytle break Dan Hardy’s will, or his limbs for that matter. Hardy, who is just an average striker, won’t win the standup game in stunning fashion, but he will have a slight edge. The point is moot, because Lytle, a true student of Mixed Martial Arts has taken a page from St-Pierre’s book and will win the fight by controlling “The Outlaw” on the ground en route to a unanimous decision.
The loss would drop “The Outlaw” to 4-4 in the UFC, and would be his fourth straight loss. It may be the last time fans see Dan Hardy in The Octagon, unless he can pull a “Tito” and hang around without a win for five years, which is highly unlikely.
It would be sad to lose Hardy, as the English fan base has only one prominent hero to turn to. The question is whether Hardy is really an English hero or just a British villain. Either way fans will always tune in to see “The Outlaw’s” latest heist.