ROUNDTABLE: What's next for Dan Hardy following a third straight loss in the UFC? Hansen, Hyden, Park, Hobaugh, Bacior, Perez, Williams, Pelkey and Penick
|
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST The UFC won't cut Dan Hardy just yet, as he can still provide plenty of compelling slug-fests, and also, the fans really seem to love the guy. What's next? Right now, who knows. Josh Koscheck is always a game fighter, and being that they have had war of words between them in the past, that's a good one right there. Any slugger would be best, but then again, if Hardy can't fix his issues with wrestling defense (ie. none), then Koscheck will eat him up alive. ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR I doubt the UFC cuts him, but the truth about Dan Hardy is that his best asset is his striking, yet he doesn't actually hit that hard and quite a few welterweights are better at that facet of the game. It was pretty ridiculous that he ever got a title shot, but he will almost certainly never put himself in the argument for one again. MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST No chance the UFC cuts him. They still like his brash personality, the crowds still react to him (love him or hate him), and with the exception of when he's being held down by a superior wrestler he's generally in exciting fights. I expect him to get a substantial step down in competition for his next fight in an effort to start building him back up. JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Being only a year removed from a title shot works in his favor to not get cut, and the UFC certainly likes him so he'll get another shot in the division. If the UFC decides to give him another wrestler he may find himself on his way out, but I think they'll give him a more favorable stylistic matchup his next time out. A fight against Chris Lytle, which both fighters have expressed interest in, would be highly entertaining, but Hardy's running the risk of another fighter saying they'll slug it out with him and then taking him down and ending him there. Hardy doesn't have extreme power in his strikes, and the picture painted of him as a knockout artist has never been accurate in the UFC, but he can put on entertaining fights depending on the opponent. The problem is his glaring weakness is one that's been severely exploited in two of his last three fights, and if he doesn't improve upon the wrestling aspect of this sport he's going to continue on this downward path.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_8926.shtml