It’s official: Dan Hardy is on the comeback trail

While helping out my colleagues at MMAjunkie at the recent Cage Warriors 80 show in London, I had the chance to chat to Cage Warriors legend and UFC analyst Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy, where I quizzed him on a variety of topics. But two stood out.

The big story came at the end of our chat, where I (almost apologetically) asked him about the status of his fighting future. He’s been consistent in his desire to compete again, but his heart abnormality — Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome — has left him on the shelf, with medics failing to give him the necessary clearance to fight.

However, when I asked him about his recent medical tests conducted here in the UK, Hardy looked like a man with a secret that he couldn’t keep to himself any longer.

Hardy has also been in the headlines for his criticism of the recent Tito Ortiz v Chael Sonnen bout at Bellator 170.

Bellator president Scott Coker had said that people had been throwing stones at the promotion, and anyone suggesting the fight was fixed should talk to Bellator’s legal department.

As the highest-profile critic of that bout’s conclusion, Hardy explained that he hadn’t received any contact from Bellator, as he laughed off any suggestion of legal proceedings and re-stated his case against the fight, and Sonnen’s role in it.

Dan is releasing his autobiography, Part Reptile: UFC, MMA and Me on March 23. Pre-order on Amazon.co.uk here.