Georges St-Pierre still believes in Dan Hardy.
In an interview with The Sun, the reigning UFC champion praised the former welterweight title contender for being “dangerously underrated.”
After a 4-0 start in the UFC, Hardy received an opportunity to challenge St-Pierre for the UFC title at UFC 111, where he was taken down repeatedly and routed in a decision loss.
Unfortunately for Hardy, the loss to St-Pierre was the beginning of a four-fight losing streak that would nearly cost him his job.
At UFC 146, “The Outlaw” returned to form with a first-round knockout over talented striker Duane Ludwig. The win marked Hardy’s first knockout in nearly three years.
“[Dan Hardy’s] better than what his last few fights have shown,” St-Pierre told The Sun. “Maybe he lost confidence but he came back very strong in his last fight.”
The champ continues:
“Dwayne Ludwig is a very scary guy to fight, and he knocked him out standing up in a striking fight. I know how dangerous Dan is because I’ve fought with him and I’ve trained with him, and he is very, very good.”
Hardy traveled to Montreal to train with St-Pierre back in September 2011. He sought out his former adversary in hopes of turning his career around.
In a post on Twitter, Hardy admitted that he learned a lot from St-Pierre and his fight team.
“I can see why George is the champ, he has a great team around him. I’ve done one session and I’m already learning a lot.”
St-Pierre believes Hardy’s patience and hard work will pay off big one day. In fact, he thinks Hardy could possibly be a future UFC champion.
“Dan can come back and be a champion in the future. He has been underrated by a lot of guys.”
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