UFC welterweight Dan “the Outlaw” Hardy made quite the impression knocking out Rory Markham in 63 seconds at UFC 95. He was equally impressive in squeaking out a split-decision against Marcus Davis at UFC 99 in a brawl fueled by ample shit talk from both sides. Marcus definitely one the first round with a surprising display of wrestling that he used to control the British fighter but failed to inflict any damage. The second and third round were different matters, with Dan using his superior reach and speed to pepper his opponent with strikes that left Marcus’ face so bloody t that if judges were to make their decision based on damage alone the Outlaw would have earned a unanimous decision.

We interviewed Dan at Legends Gym shortly after the fight with “The Irish Hand Grenade” was announced. Dan discussed what it takes to fight in the big leagues, explained his hybrid stance and kicks, and of course, threw a verbal cow chips Marcus Davis’ way.

We think that the interview and the accompanying video of Dan Hardy giving some helpful striking tips continues to be of interest to MMA fans, especially so for practitioners of mixed martial arts.

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On Fighting in the U-F-C

When did you sign with the UFC?

It was May 3. I got the UFC contract through and I already had another fight scheduled. I didn’t want to back out of that and be a flake. I fought the fight on May 3 knowing that if I lost, I would have lost my UFC contract as well.

It’s a pretty good memory. I won the fight and my manager brought the contract into the cage and I signed it there.

Did they tell you before the fight that contract offer would be revoked if you lost that fight?

Yeah.

I guess that’s because you can’t expect to go to the UFC with a loss.

Yeah.

Who was that fight against?

A German guy, Daniel Weichel. I had been wanting to fight him for a few years. He’s well respected in Europe. 15-4 is his record, with lot of good submissions. He’s always been someone that I’ve wanted to fight. When I got the fight against him I was so up for it. But then I got the UFC contract through and I had to make a decision. Do I risk the contract to take the fight or do I just call the fight off.

That’s not me, so I went and did that fight anyway.

How often will you fight?

I signed a four fight contract, and it just depends on how often they want me. They wanted me for the Jan. 17 fights so they obviously plan on keeping me quite active but I had gotten clipped during my last fight and that got reopened during training so I had to move back to the next show.

I’m planning on getting four fights a year.

Have things changed for you as a fighter now that you are in the UFC?

I think the biggest difference is that people take you more I’m taken seriously. I think that dropping those three letters into a conversation - by the way, I fight in the UFC - people take you seriously. They appreciate that you have to be at a decent level to get into the UFC in the first place. It kinda opens a lot more opportunities for me.

People are more willing to help me out because they know that I can help them out at the same time by giving them exposure, things like that. The guys at Max Health are getting me ready for my next training camp, adjusting my spine and my neck and making sure that all of my injuries are taken care of. It’s those kind of things. I feel like a more professional athlete now that I have the opportunity to use those things.

You look a lot buffer nowadays. Is that weight difference, or do you just look bigger?

Oh, it’s weight difference. The problem was before that I was fighting so regularly that my body wasn’t able to rest, recover, and build.

So for the past four years I was walking around at 180, 185, which was great for me at the time because I was fighting guys that weren’t a lot bigger than me anyway so it wasn’t a problem. But now that I fight for the UFC….

I had a long layoff after I signed with them in May. I had a couple of months where I could just sit around and eat and lift weights. It gave me plenty of time to recover from all the training I’ve done for the last four years.

This is now my natural weight - I’m 198 today. I got up to 210 but that was too heavy for me. Anything 195 to 200 is right for me at the moment. It’s right for my weight class as well. I don’t want to be fighting guys that are so much bigger than me with a good skill level as well.

How long does it take to cut to 170?

I start dieting six weeks out. I don’t start way out. I know a lot of people start eight weeks out. Sometimes I’ll even wait until four weeks depending on my weight and how my training is going. The thing is, when I diet, I diet hard so my weight comes down fast which makes it easier to put it right back on again straight after.

For my last fight, I woke up the Monday morning before the Friday weigh-in at 186 so I’m not really losing that a lot I’ll probably lose ten or twelve pounds over the course of six weeks at my training camp, and then cut the last 15 pounds or so the week of the fight and then after the weigh-in I’ll put it all back on again.

What do you weigh when you walk into the Octagon?

I was 188 at my last fight, so I managed to put 18 pounds on straight after the weigh-in. By midnight that night I was up to 188 again.

Is that safe?

I felt great. My only concern is that I’d like to be leaner. I’ve never been lean at 170; it’s just not my body type. It’s something I’m working towards at the moment. I’ve got a new nutritionist, a guy called Phil Richards who’s worked with a lot of professional boxers and other athletes. He’s really switched my diet a lot and taught me a lot of things that I wasn’t aware of that affects my fat levels and things like that so I’m looking to be leaner in my next fight.

Speed + Power = Cautious Threat

Describe your training background. What’s your specialty?

Kicking was my specialty a while ago. I started with taekwondo; I started that when I was six. I just carried that all the way through, training four or five times a week. Then when I was about 14, 15, I started adding other martial arts as well. I started doing different styles of kung fu and thinks like that.

The thing I enjoy most is boxing. I started focusing on that. Then I started working on Muay Thai which brought the kicking and the punching together. Then I started working on my clinch and my knees and things like that. It was just a slow progression from traditional martial arts to boxing and muay thai and then to MMA from there.

What would you say you use the most as MMA fighter?

I would say probably my hands. I use my boxing a lot. That’s one of my biggest things. I do use kicks a lot. In my last fight I landed a couple of kicks. In previous fights I’ve knocked people out with kicks; I broke someone’s arm once. So kicking is still a strong part of my game.

Are we talking Muay Thai or a taekwondo kicks?

I’ve adapted the Muay Thai kicks because they’re more powerful but with the speed of a taekwondo kick, so it’s a hybrid really. I don’t throw a kick as slow as Thai boxers do and I don’t get the full rotation in my hip because it’s difficult to recover from that if someone moves forward. So I tend to use a faster kick. It’s still powerful enough to knock somebody out.

Do you still hit with your shin?

Yeah.

So you’re giving up a little bit of power for speed?

Yeah, exactly.

The thing is with kicking in MMA, especially at a high level, and with you’re fighting with wrestlers it’s risky to throw a kick - if you miss, you’re wide open. So I have to time my kicks right and I have to set them up with my hands.

Why doesn’t taekwondo play more of a role in MMA?

I think it’s because it’s more of a point scoring sport. When I first started my school was a lot more about taking a kick to land a kick, and it was a lot more power based which has worked out well for me in recent years but as my career progressed in taekwondo and I was doing more competition fighting it got more about point scoring. There’s a lot of politics involved.

It got to the point where it was like playing a game of tag which is why I think people don’t use taekwondo anymore because there isn’t the power to do any damage. You’re going to score points with it, but kicking is too risky just to score a point. If you want to throw a kick, you want to do damage with it.

The main benefit I got from taekwondo was footwork. I can control my feet really well and I’m always balanced when I move. I think people who have seen my fights realize that as I’m moving around I’m always comfortable, I can always throw a strike from any position and I got that from taekwondo. It helps me to be on my toes, moving in and out fast, avoiding getting hit - which is another one of my strengths. I really don’t get hit too much in my fights.

If your opponent is stunned and you had a clean shot on him what would you go with?

If I had a clean shot on someone and knew that I would land a shot, I’d throw a traditional Muay Thai kick. If I had stunned him and I thought I could spare a couple of milliseconds I might throw a kick harder than I normally would.

But the majority of the time I’ll land a kick and that will throw them off balance and open them up for a punching combination which is what normally finishes the fight.

Lately I’ve heard a lot of strikers talking about the importance of throwing punches in threes. Why is that?

It’s probably because the first couple ones don’t always land. Especially when you’re fighting an experienced opponent like my last opponent, [Akihiro] Gono. I’ve never thrown as many punches and missed before. I don’t normally miss punches; when I throw I normally land. So I had to start putting twos and threes together to land.

And obviously, the first punch can be a set up punch for the one that you want to land. A lot of the time I’ll set up everything with a jab. I’ll throw the jab to set up my left hook or my right hook - and that’s where I get most of my success.

What kind of stance do you use?

I stand more in a Muay Thai stance but not as upright. I tend to lower my stance a little bit, drop my chin a little bit more and bring my hands close to my face more like a boxer’s stance.

What’s the point of that?

I just find it more comfortable. With a Muay Thai stance I just think you stand too high which opens you up to take downs. And I think with a boxing stance you are too side-on and it’s difficult to move in and out when someone is going to charge you. People don’t run at each other in boxing like you do in MMA. I think that’s where the difference comes.

The stance that I use, I’m very mobile with it and I can get out of the way if someone starts to move towards me. Whereas if I were standing in a traditional boxing stance my front leg would be wide open to kicks and takedowns.

How’s your takedown defense coming along ?

My defense has gotten better. I’ve done a lot of work while I’ve been over here. I’ve been at team quest, I spent some time at extreme couture, and a lot of the guys here at Legends have been helping me with takedowns, I take the wrestling class when I can.

To be honest wrestling isn’t in my background because I’m from the U.K. The thing is I try not to concentrate too much on traditional wrestling. I try to pick the key points that are important to me, like head control, using the whizzer to control the underhook… I’m just learning to get my hips back and it’s getting used to that reaction time, things like that.

My takedown defense has gotten a lot better. I had a fight with a guy called Chad Reiner earlier on this year and he tried to take me down for the whole fight. He got me down in the first round but he after that I got straight back to my feet. I think I surprised a lot of people with that.

In my last fight I got taken down a couple of times but there was no point when I was on the ground when I couldn’t get back up. I got straight back up on my feet. That’s all basic wrestling knowledge.

I once heard Chuck Liddell say that the key to his ability to get back on his feet after a takedown was his willingness to take a punch in the face. Do you agree with that?

Yeah, that’s right. I was always say this to people: If you get caught in a position, if you get caught in mount, you have to accept that it’s your fault that you got caught in mount and you’re going to have to take a punch in your face for your troubles. You’re going to get punched in the face regardless so it’s better to take a punch while getting to your feet than to take a punch trying to defend yourself.

‘Weird’ Culinary Preferences of His Homeland

What’s with British food?

British food is wonderful!

Really? Steak and kidney pie is wonderful?

Well, I don’t eat that.

It’s so fatty too. British food is a lot like Southern food only not as tasty.

Yeah, a lot of British food is high calorie. I think it’s because it’s cold over there - we need the extra layer of fat.

There are certain meals that I miss when I’m not in England. Like I miss a good plate of fish and chips.

There’s a variety of fish offered at a fish and chips shop. What’s your recommendation for Americans willing to hazard their arteries with this fried British dietary staple?

My favorite is haddock. Battered haddock and a plate of chips. The chips aren’t made like - what do you call them over here?

French fries. Or freedom fries when we’re angry with France.

French fries, right. These are different; they are shorter and thicker...

Like our steak fries but only soggier.

Moister, yeah.

What sort of condiments do you put on them?

Salt and vinegar, that’s the traditional way to serve them.

There are certainly some weird foods over there. My girlfriend’s from America and she came to visit one Christmas and I took her to a nice little place up in the north of England out in the country. We had a traditional England breakfast at this place and they served black pudding, which I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world. A black pudding is basically blood, blood and fat inside a sausage casing and they cut you slices off. I don’t eat it myself but that is a very popular thing in England. And

I had fried bread when I was in Scotland. Like, literally, they took a piece of bread and fried it in a gunk of lard and served that for breakfast.

Yeah, that’s weird isn’t it?