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It's a rough patch that he finds himself in, and one wholly unfamiliar to him as well. The 29-year-old British Welterweight had only ever suffered back to back losses one time prior in his career, but after a decision loss to Georges St. Pierre in his one shot at a UFC Title last March, Hardy has added a knock out loss to Carlos Condit and another decision loss to Anthony "Rumble" Johnson as well.
His frustration has been palpable, especially in regards to his decision losses to St. Pierre and Johnson. With wrestling being a weak point in his game, both of those fights saw him be put on his back on numerous occasions, not allowing him to get going in the most effective aspect of his game. However, in Chris Lytle - the man he meets this Sunday in Milwaukee, Wis. - Hardy sees a somewhat kindred spirit, and is expecting a very different type of fight than he's gotten recently.
"I think this is the kind of fight that the fans want to see and I'm not expecting to hear any boos at any point in the 15 minutes," Hardy said during a recent media conference call for the event. "It's frustrating for me because I do this sport just because I love it. I love fighting, I love the competition, I love the risk taking and the gamble in throwing punches at somebody and two of my last three fights have been snoozefests. It's been disappointing and I just don't like having boring fights.
"I want fun fights and for me, Chris Lytle is the kind of guy that I can look up to and think he's the kind of guy I want to fight like. I want to fight like this guy. So having the opportunity to actually share a main event with him is an honor. And I know he's going to bring it, I know he's going to test me and I know that he's going to come and try to win the fight and that's exactly what I want is somebody who wants to get that paycheck and take it home."
Of course, Hardy also felt he was going to get a slug fest out of Anthony Johnson, who promised a war with Hardy before the two squared off in March. However, Johnson entered off a loss and a long layoff, and his instincts kicked in to utilize his wrestling to get a win, and that's just what he did. Hardy believes Lytle will indulge him with a more entertaining fight, but also knows he needs to be prepared for Lytle's ground game anyway.
"You know, I have come to realize that opponents can be quite unreliable, which is disappointing," Hardy said. "But I don't think that Chris is that guy but either way I mean as everyone on Twitter keeps telling me, 'it's mixed martial arts, got to learn some wrestling and jiu jitsu."
"I think everyone thinks I just hit bags all day but you know, it?s one of those things I was annoyed in the fight. I was disappointed because I had a lot of people especially over in the UK waiting up til early hours of the morning to watch a good fight and I ended up having a nap for 15 minutes. And I just don't want a boring fight. Regardless of where the fight goes I just don't want a boring fight... and I don't think Chris has got that in him."
For his part, Lytle assured that he's not coming out to eke out three rounds on the judges scorecards, and said the honor of being placed in the main event slot means he's going out to put on a show.
"You're going to get what you pay [for]," Lytle promised. "You're going to get a good fight out of it. That's all I can guarantee. It's going to be fun to watch."
The event comes live on the Versus network this Sunday, August 14, airing from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis.
Penick's Analysis: Lytle has the capability to bring this fight to the ground and end it with his submission game, but he's also got a penchant for swinging with opponents, and may be coming into this fight ready to go out on his shield. At any rate, it really should be a very entertaining fight, and even though it's main eventing with both coming off of losses over a more deserving fight in Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson, it should send fans home happy with an entertaining scrap to close out the show.
[Dan Hardy art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_10128.shtml
