Dan Hardy and Diego Sanchez are slated to fight. But it’s not inside the cage…
The Event
Instead, the MMA legends will collide inside the boxing ring. Hardy will come out of retirement to box Sanchez on July 2nd. It will be on Hardy’s home turf as he faces ‘Nightmare’ inside the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
The bout will be featured on the undercard of Ricky Hatton vs. Marco Antonio Barrera.
Dan Hardy is boxing Diego Sanchez on a Ricky Hatton undercard. Wow.#MMA #boxing #UFC pic.twitter.com/0VGQP113dV
— Max Randall (@Max_Randall) April 21, 2022
Hardy Returns
Of course, the headlining Hatten isn’t the only fighter to make his return to combat sports. It’s been a long road for the comeback of England’s Dan Hardy. The UFC veteran last fought in September 2012, where he defeated Amir Sadollah. Following the win, he’d retire due to health reasons. Hardy hasn’t fought since.
While the 39 year-old hasn’t fought in a decade, he isn’t willing to hang up the gloves just yet. Hardy still has an itch to get back in there.
He’s had this itch for a while now, wanting to fight inside the Octagon a few years back. Hardy was interested in fighting fellow legends Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Carlos Condit and even Nick Diaz. However, the promotion wasn’t keen on him fighting again.
After some problems with Herb Dean and a UFC employee, Hardy would be fired from his broadcaster position at the UFC. Shortly after, he’d ask to be released from his UFC contract as a fighter. Since then, he has been looking for a fight with Tyron Woodley and others.
With Woodley not wanting to box him, he will now settle for Diego Sanchez.
Sanchez Enters The Boxing Ring
Like Hardy, Sanchez was released from the UFC some time ago. He has since fought Kevin Lee in Eagle FC, where he lost by unanimous decision.
Moving on from MMA, the 40 year-old has decided to turn a new leaf and pursue boxing. He will go into enemy territory when he takes on Hardy at Manchester Arena.