Former UFC welterweight contender Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy (23-10, 1NC) will get a chance to end his four bout losing streak this coming May, and he’ll do it against a fighter who won’t hesitate to stand toe-to-toe in the Octagon.
On Wednesday, ESPN.co.uk confirmed with UFC officials that Hardy would face striker Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig (21-12) at the upcoming UFC 146 event in Vegas, with verbal agreements on both sides.
UFC 146 is expected to take place on May 26, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unconfirmed as the headliner, UFC heavyweights Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem will look to unofficially unify the UFC and Strikeforce titles.
Hardy was last in action in August of last year, losing via guillotine choke to Chris Lytle in the last minute of the third round, in their headlining bout for UFC on Versus 5. Previous to that Hardy lost a decision to Anthony Johnson at UFN 24, via KO to Carlos Condit at UFC 120, and by decision to Georges St-Pierre in their UFC 111 title match. ‘The Outlaw’ saw his last win take place in November 2009, a unanimous decision over Mike Swick.
Ludwig is a month removed from his last fight, a technical submission loss to Josh Neer at the UFC on FX 1 event in Nashville. The defeat ended a two fight win streak for ‘Bang’ who earned decisions over Amir Sadollah, at UFC on Versus 5, and versus Nick Osipczak at UFC 122. Ludwig was recognized by UFC president Dana White recently for the fastest knockout in UFC history, for finishing Joathan Goulet at UFN 3 in six-seconds back in January 2006.