4. Cold, Hard Truth Time for Hardy
With the UFC pushing hard to solidify England as a viable market, Dan Hardy stood as one of the biggest beneficiaries, receiving a heavy promotional push that culminated in his UFC 111 title fight with Georges St-Pierre. While some may say hindsight is a beautiful thing, looking at Hardy after his second-straight loss, you see a fighter who doesn’t belong in the upper echelon of the welterweight division.
There might not be a fighter in the sport who has talked himself into a top-ranked position better than Hardy. He parlayed wins over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick into a title shot, and was looking ahead to big name fights following a win over Condit. Now that he’s staring at a loss, Hardy has to start delivering on all his big talk.
Beating middle tier talent isn’t enough to merit the heavy volume of self-praise that comes from Hardy; while selling yourself is important, backing it up is a bigger plus and that is what Hardy must now do. Whoever he fights next needs to get beaten, badly. For all his talk, Hardy hasn’t finished anyone since beating Rory Markham, and last time I checked, he wasn’t on the UFC roster any longer.
His quick quips and the UFC’s promotional power gave Hardy a taste of the spotlight, but now it’s on him to prove he deserves to stay there going forward.
5. The Truth Always Comes Out in the Cage
You can package a fighter as a contender, build cards around their names, showcase their skills in promotional videos and pump up their victories to make them shine a little more than they should. But at the end of the day, the truth always comes out in the cage, and despite their best efforts, the UFC doesn’t have a British championship contender in their ranks.
The situation for Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy has been discussed already, and while youngsters like John Hathaway and Paul Sass show promise, they’re still a long way away from even being mentioned as contenders. The most legitimate title challenger, Paul Daley, punched himself out of the organization, and while the lack of title contenders isn’t a big deal in North American markets, it doesn’t play in the UK.
British fans want a native son to hang their hopes on, and right now, the country’s top talent is still a step behind the best fighters from other parts of the world. While the situation will most likely level itself out over the coming years, the concern is whether British fans will continue to flock to UFC events to watch the home side lose or advance to the next level?
6. Mike Pyle Needs to Ace the Encore
Everyone will agree that Mike Pyle’s performance against previously-unbeaten British prospect John Hathaway was outstanding; the 35-year-old veteran surprised many by dominating Hathaway throughout the fight to push his record inside the Octagon to 3-2.
What might not earn agreement across the board is how important Pyle’s next performance is. Some might feel that his win over Hathaway has earned him a bit of breathing room, but the reality of the sport is that you’re only as good as your last fight. Right now, Pyle looks great, but what he does for an encore is of greater importance.
A late bloomer who has always been labelled as a guy who is great in the gym, Pyle can’t take a step back in his next bout. This win will earn him a stiffer test next time around, and the long-time Xtreme Couture member must excel. Otherwise, this will become the defining fight in a career marred by a case of the could-have-beens.