Will Dan Hardy finally make his return to MMA?
The England native originally stepped away from the octagon after being diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome back in 2013. In 2018, The 38-year-old announced that he was cleared and eligible to fight and last year, Hardy stated that he re-entered the USADA testing pool.
While Hardy has been in the pool since 2019, the veteran hasn't officially confirmed when he’ll fight again, though Hardy continues to strongly tease that he’s coming back for one more run. In his latest hint, Hardy told MMA Junkie that seeing both Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar score big wins recently has him eager to get back into the octagon:
“All the time,” Hardy told MMA Junkie Radio. “Frankie Edgar is still going at it. I mean, I felt like I was still in school when Frankie Edgar was making his UFC debut, and I’m pretty sure I’m older than him still. What we realize about MMA is that it’s a lot more down to IQ and experience. We’re having a lot of fighters that are having success later in their life. I know Lamas was talking about retiring at the weekend, but I thought he looked great. I thought he looked in fantastic condition, and he’s 38 as well.
“The other thing that made me laugh – because, as you know, I do my research – when I was researching for the ‘Fight Island’ finale, the last event on there, there were four guys on the card who were older than me. Two of them were fighting each other: (Mauricio) ‘Shogun’ (Rua) and (Antonio Rogerio) Nogueira. (Francisco) Trinaldo is older than me. I think there were four guys older than me. But the other truth is, that there was one guy that had more MMA experience than me. I’ve had a lot of fights. I’ve been around here a long time. I’ve only been knocked out in a fight once. I’ve not drank in years. I’m not taking punches to the head on a daily and weekly basis.”
Hardy still hasn’t given an indication on when he could make his return, but he does issue a warning to other fighters, should he finally decide to compete again:
“As much as I look at these guys and go ‘Wow they’re still performing well at 38, 40, 42,’ I’m also looking at how much wear and tear they’ve got compared to me,” Hardy said. “So if and when I do decide to come back, someone’s gonna get it – and I don’t think people realize that.”