© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
5 Sept. '06

Dan Hardy is keeping busy at the Portland Leisure Centre when the phone rings. Between MMA fights he works as an instructor here helping people get into shape.

"It's a typical leisure center with free-weights, machines and a lot of cardio stuff. We have a boxing class as well and I sometimes help out with that too. They're pretty good to me at the gym when I want time off to train or for upcoming fights," says Hardy.

Unlike most MMA fighters who originally got into a fighting system when they were young, because they were influenced by stars such as Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dan was roped in by a whole bunch of lethal assassins: "I started tae kwon do when I was six. I was at school and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had just come out. I was wrapped in it and I wanted to have a go, so I started doing tae kwon do and I progressed from there."

Dan's striking skills improved dramatically over the years, and he has recently concentrated a lot on his grappling, however he says he remains primarily a striker. "Although I started with TKD, I've also done a lot of boxing and now I work mainly Thai boxing: I'm bringing in the elbows and knees as well. I am working quite a lot on my ground game at the moment because it's the weaker part of my game, but I definitely prefer the stand-up to the ground."

'The Outlaw' says it's the Thai influence that has added the extra sting to his game: "I've started using elbows a lot more and I'm having success with them, so I am concentrating on them – particularly for my next fight. But in the past I've focused on my kicks more because I started with a TKD background and I'm quite flexible and explosive.

"However, I've changed over to Thai boxing style to make my kicks more powerful and I'm stopping more people with them. The TKD is obviously more sport orientated where you're just making contact; however, with just a slight change in technique the Thai kicks make them much more damaging.

"I'm having a lot of luck with head kicks: I've knocked a few people out with them and caused bad cuts. I've also broken people's arms with the Thai shin kicks – usually when they're trying to block the kicks to their heads."

Dan, you have excellent submission defenses in your game.

"I wouldn't say I'm technically very good at defending submissions, it's just that I'm stubborn – I hate losing more than anything in the world, and I'll fight to the last if I can. I've had a couple of submissions losses on my record and since them I've been working a lot on my jiu jitsu. My coach, Lee Livingstone, has been really helping me out on my ground game and just pushing me to improve. With his being so technically good, I've always got somebody on my case to push me. But a lot of my submission defenses have come about through my being stubborn and refusing to give up. I just keep fighting until I'm out of it."

Would you regard your victories over Paul Jenkins, Matt Thorp and Diego Gonzalez as some of your finest wins?

"Yeah, but not just my wins but my best fights: I mean my fight with Forrest Petz – I sincerely believe I won that fight, and I believe they gave it to him because it was his home town. But that was my best performance.

" I broke his nose in three places. I dominated with the takedowns and the stand-up. He caught me with a couple of good shots, but I didn't have a scratch on my face afterwards and he was really badly beat up.

"I was in his home town and they gave him the decision. And with the decision, my belts as well, so I want a rematch. But he's not giving it to me. It's quite frustrating: I just want to fight him again – belts or no belts – I just want to prove to everybody I beat him before and I'll beat him again."

Your first match with Diego Gonzales (CWFC: Strike Force 3, Oct. 1, 2005) was a no-contest. What happened there?

"We came out to touch gloves at the very start of the fight, and he walked out as if he was going to touch gloves with me, and when he got into range he threw an overhand right and shot straight for my legs, which kind of caught me off guard. And as I was trying to get back up to my feet – I was shoulder-walking up the cage – he managed to get my back and started elbowing me in the back of the head and neck.

"I don't remember anything after that. I fought into the second round and got caught in the rear naked choke. I just remember being sucker-punched and being taken down. After that, it's only through watching the videotape that I know what happened. I think he landed eleven illegal elbows to the back of my head and neck. I lost feeling to the right side of my face for a few months after the fight – It was quite bad really. That was declared a no-fight and I got my rematch and got the win."

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