Popular UFC welterweight Dan Hardy may not be ready to ride into the sunset just yet.
In February, “The Outlaw” made headlines when he predicted he would retire within the next year or two, despite being only 30 years old and on a two-fight winning streak.
That prediction gained a strange prescience about a month later, when Hardy revealed he had a heart condition that might force him to reconsider his career sooner rather than later.
However, speaking Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast, Hardy appeared to take a circumspect approach to any retirement talk, and indicated he was taking his time figuring out his future.
“I’ll give it a week or two and then speak with someone at the UFC about what my options are,” Hardy said. “It’s definitely career-changing, but I don’t really know the full extent of it. It really depends on the approach the UFC adopts.”
An EKG (Electrocardiogram) test administered at the behest of the California State Athletic Condition in advance of Hardy’s scheduled April 20 fight with Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 7 revealed Hardy had Wolff-Parkinson-White pattern, a condition characterized by abnormal electrical patterns in the heart. Hardy subsequently pulled out of the fight and was replaced by Jordan Mein.
Despite the uncertainty over his future, Hardy seemed to express a renewed interest in fighting, saying he had “options” for competition around the world.
“Whether they decide to keep me out of California and [allow me to] fight elsewhere, or whether no one’s willing to take the risk…obviously there are options in Europe and Asia and things like that to fight,” Hardy said.
In any event, Hardy (25-10-1) does not appear to feel threatened by the condition outside of the threat it poses to his fighting career.
“The risk [of death] is less than 1 percent,” Hardy said. “It’s more likely I’m going to get hit by a plane on the way to the gym. It’s kind of stupid, but what can I do? It’s out of my hands, and I’m OK with…whatever the future holds.”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com