Forever linked with a return to the inside of the Octagon rather than the commentary booth – former UFC welterweight title challenger, Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy has given his thoughts on how an intriguing matchup with the similarly rumoured returning, Nick Diaz would play out.
Hardy, who’s become a masterful analyst and colour-commentator for the promotion, has yet to feature in the Octagon since he walked away from active competition back in 2013. The Nottingham native was scheduled to meet with ‘The Immortal’ Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night San Jose in April of that year but withdrew from the tie after he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
In late 2018 – Hardy was cleared to return to the Octagon and announced he had returned to the United States Anit-Doping Agency testing-pool during a podcast appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience in August of last year.
Linked with a return ever since, Hardy, who appeared at a UFC Fight Island media-day, broke down a potential pairing with the one-time WEC and Strikeforce welterweight gold holder, Diaz.
“So obviously (Nick) Diaz has got a high work-rate, he’s got an excellent ground game – and this kinda goes for both the Diaz brothers (Nick and Nate), they’re a bit of a clone of one another,” Hardy said. “They’ve got a high volume of striking and that’s really what they’re using in place of their wrestling. You know, they don’t grapple with people – to the floor, to then employ their Jiu-Jitsu, they beat them up on the feet until they level change or shoot or lower their head or whatever.“
“I don’t think I would see anything different from Nick Diaz,” Hardy said. “I think he would come out and try slap me up like he did Paul Daley, and I think he would try and back me up against the fence and want to trade punches. I think the difference is, my hands are faster and I hit a lot harder. And I don’t make bad decisions like I used to – my head movements much better now, and I just feel like I could manage range so much better against him than a lot of people do.“
“But who knows – who knows what Diaz is doing, but he’s gonna be in good shape, he’s got great conditioning, we know he’s a good boxer, we know he’s got good Jiu-Jitsu,“Hardy explained. “But ultimately it comes down to the individual punches that land, and I feel like I could land the individual punches to do the damage.
While Hardy is yet to feature since his Nottingham homecoming back in September 2012 in a unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah – Stockton favourite, Diaz hasn’t made an Octagon appearance since his UFC 183 eventual ‘No Contest’ opposite former middleweight king, Anderson Silva in January of 2015. Former title challengers under the promotion’s banner, both men have tackled Georges St-Pierre for undisputed welterweight gold, with both dropping unanimous decision defeats.