One more, for old time’s sake.
The UFC has announced that one of the most popular British fighters on the planet, Nottingham’s own Dan Hardy, will be making his return to the cage at UFC on FUEL TV 5 (aka UFC: Nottingham). His opponent will be TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah.
In a way, it feels anticlimactic to follow up a story about the UFC offering full refunds for UFC 147 with something this predictable, huh?
After a dreadful four fight skid, Dan Hardy got back on track at UFC 146 with a first round knockout over Duane “Bang” Ludwig, which earned him Knockout of the Night honors. This bout will mark the fifth time that ”The Outlaw” has fought in his home country in the UFC. His last effort in front of a British crowd saw him get knocked out by Carlos Condit in the first round. For what it’s worth, his last bout in Nottingham was a third round TKO over Chad Reiner at CWFC: Enter the Rough House 6 in 2008.
It’s hard to believe that this bout will also mark Amir Sadollah’s tenth professional fight. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter, Sadollah has gone 6-3 in the UFC. His most recent effort was a split decision over Jorge Lopez at UFC on FUEL TV 3 this past May.
Even though the main event doesn’t exactly have star power, this is shaping up to be one hell of a card. Between this fight, Struve vs. Miocic and Che Mills vs. Duane Ludwig, fans should be treated to some pretty good brawls. The question is, will the ratings reflect this?