Dan Hardy, who went out to the US with Michael Bisping to train under jiu jitsu expert Eddie Bravo in advance of his UFC debut against Akihiro Gono in Birmingham next month, is very, very confident.
Bring it on: Dan Hardy (r) is pumped up and ready for his debut
“Eddie is great. The good thing about him is his understanding of how the sport works, and exactly how useful jiu jitsu is. You have to be flexible to do it, a rubber guard is perfect for MMA. He calls his techniques interesting names, and we had long talks after our sessions. It’s nice to be working with someone who knows the ground game so well,” Hardy tells me.
While Bisping remains the flagship fighter from Britain in UFC, Hardy could yet sneak in through the backdoor – well, almost - and become the first UK fighter to be a UFC belt holder. “That would be awesome. That’s my main goal - to be the first British title holder. I’m chasing Michael Bisping who is way ahead of me right now, but there’s no reason why one of us can’t take a belt in the next couple of years. The key is that we are a bit behind the fighters in the US on a technical level and in the quality of training, but that’s why I’m happy to go abroad to be able to bring the level up.”
The British pair have been working mainly on wrestling and jiu jitsu “because we don’t have the tradition of it in the UK” unlike the US, which has wrestling as a major sport, even through High School grades.
“We are always going to be outclassed by the level of training they have out there. GSP [George St Pierre, the current UFC welterweight champion] never wrestled at high school but has dominated wrestlers in the cage. We need to be willing to put the time in, and we need to travel to do that. If we get the top guys coming to train UK fighters, we will see huge leaps in the standard of British MMA.”
But surely Hardy must look at Georges St Pierre – and freak out!
“Sure, he’s a fantastic athlete – but I think he and John Fitch both exposed each other a bit when they fought – and he’s more human than I thought before. GSP has cracks in his superhuman façade.”
But first things first, back to his debut. “Gono is the opponent, and the fans are going to see him go home in tears. The UFC have given me a huge opportunity against Gono. I have fought in Japan a few times. He’s coming a long way to get beaten.”
Hardy also told me that Joe Rogan is no mug – and he knows his onions – in the Octagon, that is, with both microphone, and skills: “Joe Rogan – he is a beast in jiu jitsu, unbelievable. I trained with him a few times, we talk whenever we see each other. He’s so strong, he became a brown belt under Eddie Bravo. It’s not a myth – he’s the real deal – and dangerous because he can talk and fight.”
Hardy is also under no illusions - he's in for a difficult debut against Gono, an experienced opponent, on October 18. In the broadest terms, Hardy sees this as a technical, exciting fight. But he also told me it is “a gift”. That’s confidence for you, against 47-fight MMA artist against a UFC neophyte.
Biggest advantages? Age and hunger, says Hardy. Let’s hope he’s right.
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