Could we see Dan Hardy return to the octagon for the first time in six years?
The England native originally stepped away from the octagon after being diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome back in 2013. While Hardy stepped away from the ring, he has never stated that he was retired from fighting. The 37-year-old announced that he was cleared and eligible to fight back in October 2018 and now, Hardy is claiming that he'll reenter the USADA testing pool, which he revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience (transcript courtesy of
fightful.com):
“Right now what I’m going to do is get back in the USADA testing pool, I have to be in the pool for four months. Once I’m in the pool for four months, then I have the option to fight if I choose to.”
Hardy also stated he’ll have to be tested for four months before being cleared to return to action. ‘The Outlaw’ made it clear that he was leaning towards a return last month on
The MMA Hour (transcript courtesy of
mmanews.com):
“I’m always mulling a return,” Hardy confessed. “And I’ll get a few days of training together, and I’ll be dragged off somewhere else in the world to talk about somebody else fighting instead of myself. I did spend a week at American Top Team, though, doing some filming with Amanda Nunes and a few other fighters there."
“Then I’ll come home and I’ll hit the bag for a while, as you saw on my Instagram. I’m moving well. I don’t think I’ll be able to fully retire. There’s no point I’ll be able to take my gloves off and leave them in the Octagon, especially because I want to come and hang the to the wall in my gym as well. I never leave gloves behind."
“Yeah, I would love to fight again. I absolutely would. I’ve got ideas in my head of who I would like to fight and where I would like to fight, but none of that’s relevant right now.”
The last time Hardy fought, he got a unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah at UFC on Fuel TV in 2012.