Dale Hartt...he could be a big name in the future.

Dale Hartt is ready to entertain you
by John Morgan on Jul 13, 2008 at 8:00 am ET

Is Dale Hartt (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) the future of MMA?Hartt will not bring an impressive amateur wrestling resume to his bout with Shannon Gugerty at UFC Fight Night 14 this Saturday night. There will be no discussion of Hartt's Brazilian jiu-jitsu world titles -- no talk of any highlight-reel knockouts in Muay-Thai.Yet the 29-year-old Hartt told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he has been focused on MMA since its beginning."I watched the first UFC, and ever since then all I've wanted to do is mixed martial arts," Hartt said. "I trained in Florida before I started training in Bangor, (Maine), with Marcus (Davis). I did Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I did Muay-Thai. I wrestled a little bit. But everything I did, I did because I wanted to fight MMA. I never wanted to be a jiu-jitsu guy. I never wanted to be a Muay-Thai guy. I always wanted to be an MMA guy.

"Hartt has taken the blue-collar approach to MMA, and he has become a jack-of-all-trades en route to his UFC debut. Now less than a week away from the biggest night of his life, Hartt is looking forward to an opportunity to silence his critics."It's like a validation," Hartt said. "Validation for the sacrifice I've made and all the sacrifice my family's made."It's like before you fight in the UFC, everybody looks at you like you're wasting your time. My whole family, they think I'm wasting my time. And now, all of a sudden, the UFC thing comes along, and oh, maybe I'm not wasting my time."

Hartt nearly reached his lifelong goal earlier this year. After trying out for season eight of "The Ultimate Fighter," the Team Irish fighter just missed getting a plane ticket to Las Vegas."I was pretty much the last guy cut for 'The Ultimate Fighter,'" Hartt said. "I've had a girlfriend for a long time, and she was pregnant. I knew if I went on the show, I was going to miss the birth of my child. I was prepared to do that, but I wasn't super happy about it.

"Despite missing out on what seemed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Hartt now finds himself with a golden ticket providing direct access to the world-famous octagon. The undefeated lightweight remembers fondly the moment he received the offer to fight for the UFC.

"If someone from the Olympic gymnastics team would have been there, I think they would have asked me to go to the Olympics," Hartt said. "I was in the parking lot, and I was doing back handstands and flips, and all kinds of crazy crap I've never even seen before. I'm telling you, it was amazing the athletic endeavors I was undertaking in this parking lot -- all while still staying on the cell phone."

Hartt has finished all five of his previous opponents, but he realizes that his game planning must improve now that he is competing on a much-higher level. "I'd like to stay a little bit more relaxed and a little bit smoother than I normally am," Hartt admitted. "I hope Shannon Gugerty's not reading this, but I'm kind of a tank. It's kind of my nature. They call me 'Dale Monster' in training. I'm just like 'Forward.' I use sheer determination and will to overcome my obstacles. I'm trying to actually use my feet to move and not just engage and go forward."

As a valued member of Marcus Davis' training camp, Hartt has been exposed to the rigors of life in the UFC. Now it will be his turn as the center of attention."I'm kind of a weird guy," Hartt admitted. "I always known I'm a weird guy, but this has just accentuated that for me. I'm not really nervous, and that actually makes me nervous. I'm nervous about not being nervous. I'm worried that all of a sudden, I'm going to be standing there at the gate, and all of a sudden this huge wave is going to hit me and I'm going to be like, 'Holy [expletive], I'm fighting in the UFC.'"

Despite those concerns, Hartt is prepared to deal with the possibility of first-time jitters."I'm going to try my best, and I'm not making any promises here, to have that nervous energy empower me to perform," Hartt said. "Empower me to give me strength, speed and hellacious pain endurance."It is that type of attitude that fuels Hartt and that pushes his desire to be a new fan favorite."I don't care if I went in there and fought Fedor (Emelianenko) and he beat my face in for 15 minutes," Hartt said. "If I went in there, and I gave it everything I have, even if I was on the bottom eating punches, but I was still fighting him the whole time, and he said afterwards, 'Man, that son of a bitch never gives up, and he was fighting me that whole time,' I'd be happier than a pig in poop."