It came as a bit of a surprise to hear that Dan Hardy would no longer be working as a commentator or analyst for the UFC. However in the weeks since that happened, Dan says he feels better than ever.
Whether you love him or hate him, it is hard to deny that Hardy was a valuable asset to the UFC. His analytical mind brought great insight into fights, and his work as a commentator was unmatched.
That is why it seemed to come out of nowhere, when reports emerged that he was no longer working with the UFC. An apparent disagreement with another member of UFC staff led to this departure, but there was little other information offered in this regard.
Dan Hardy Feels Relieved
While there was a bit of information revealed about the situation between Dan Hardy and the UFC, the bulk of the problem remained a mystery. However the former welterweight contender decided to speak on the incident in a recent interview.
Here, Dan explained that he got into a disagreement with a UFC employee over what he perceived to be the promotion withholding opportunities from him. That said, he thinks that the main issue started with his infamous Fight Island altercation with referee Herb Dean.
“I think the Herb Dean situation didn’t work in my favor. I mean, I had signed a new contract and worked a few events since then, but I still think that was in the back of their mind,” Hardy explained.
“Then the incident on Fight Island was a disagreement between myself and another employee of the UFC, who I just feel was being obstructive in helping me do my job, I felt. I asked the person why, and I felt like I was told a falsehood which I called them out on. That’s my side of it…
“I wasn’t aggressive, I wasn’t insulting towards her, I wasn’t threatening in any way. That’s just not who I am. I was forthright and I was to the point, and I asked a question about why opportunities weren’t getting through to me, when they previously had done for the last few years. It just felt like a bit of a deterioration of a relationship and I didn’t understand why.”
Hardy goes on to explain that there was some frustration because he felt like he was missing opportunities that were beneficial, not just to him, but to UK MMA. At the end of the day, he just wanted to know what was going on.
That being said, Dan feels like the majority of the backlash has come from his firing, more so than the specific disagreement. On the other hand, the more time that has passed, the better he feels about things.
“It’s just an awkward situation and it’s frustrating because I find myself outside the UFC now. But at the same time, I don’t know, the last few weeks I’ve just felt so much lighter and freer. I can just cover combat sports now,” Hardy said.
Any Hope For Reconciliation?
Dan Hardy says that, as far as he knows, he is still under contract to fight for the UFC. However he has yet to speak with Dana White or anyone with the promotion, to get insight into what happened and why he was fired.
So as far as the hope of reconciliation goes, Dan has not completely closed the door on his hopes to continue working with the UFC. Conversely he just wants to make sure that Dana White does not have a misconstrued view of him as a person.
“I love the UFC, I always will. I’ll always be a huge fan of the UFC and it’s been a huge part of my career and a huge part of my life,” Hardy said.
“I have nothing against the UFC or Dana or anything like that. If they called me up and they’re like ‘Hey, parachute in on a Union Jack flag for (UFC) 261,’ I’ll be there in a heartbeat. It’s just a weird place, because I kind of don’t know exactly what happened.
“My concern is that Dana has a perspective of the situation that’s not true. That’s what concerns me more than anything. I could not sit octagon-side ever again, as long as Dana doesn’t have this misconception of who I am, because that would really frustrates me.”
It really is a shame that it seems like we will never see Dan Hardy commentate for the UFC again, even if he does have other ventures. Hopefully we will get Dana White’s side of the situation soon, to shed more light on what went down between the two parties.
