Issue 049
May 2009
Aside from rattling his opponent’s brains with some of the slickest high kicks and counter punches in the business, Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy is well known for rocking out every training session with the loudest metal and hardcore that he can get his hands on, but his musical tastes encompass a vast array of different genres.
“I listen to quite a lot of stuff,” he explained, in what turned out to be a genuine understatement. “It varies depending on what mood I’m in. At the moment, I’m listening to a lot of ska, but when I’m training, I prefer to listen to bands like Madball, Sick of it all, Pantera, and when I’m chilling out, it could be anything from Coldplay to Massive Attack or Portishead.
“The punk and the ska, that’s from my Dad, I remember sitting in the back of my Dad’s car and he’d have Madness on the stereo, I always enjoyed it and I relate it to when I spent a lot of time with my parents – I think you’re influenced by the kind of stuff your parents listen to, I enjoyed what they listened to and explored the genre and found other bands that I like.”
As a teenager, Hardy’s interests branched out as he began listening to Megadeth and instantly fell in love with their style of thrash metal. He started buying metal magazines, which opened up a whole world of aggressive music. “They introduced me to a lot of the other American bands, particularly the hardcore bands like Biohazard and Madball. I spent a lot of my teenage years going to gigs!”
Training
Not all of his training partners in Britain are quite so enthusiastic about this biting style. “I always find it easier in America because a lot more people over there listen to metal and really heavy stuff like Lamb of God. It goes down a lot better in America, over here everyone’s into hip hop and when I put that on everyone gives me funny looks.
“When I’m running, I always like to have some metal and hardcore because a lot of the subjects that they are singing about are about overcoming the odds, standing up for what you believe in and things like that. It’s pretty inspirational stuff. Madball, I think, pretty much every song they write, they always drop the line in, ‘Never give up’ or ‘Never back down’, so it always gets me really motivated and really angry when I’m running.”
Fight time
Hardy uses another aggressive but somewhat relaxed album, Temple Of Boom by Cypress Hill, to aid with his mental preparation. “I close my eyes, make sure the room’s dark, listen to the beat and just play through the fight in my head in slow motion. I can see exactly what I’m going to do. Before the fight, I’ll get my iPod on and I’ll put on that album and my brain will automatically start doing that again, it’s like you anchor the emotion to the music.”
Choosing the right entrance track is an important task for most fighters and, after some early experimentation, ‘The Outlaw’ feels that he has made the perfect track selection. “My first couple of fights I came out to Drank The Waters by Pantera, but I found that it made me too tense, so I started to lighten the tone a bit and used Nowhere To Run by Martha and the Vandellas, just a jokey thing, so when you’re coming out the crowd laugh and appreciate the music. Now that I’m fighting in the UFC, I use Cock Sparrer, England Belongs To Me… and it’s just great for the fans, they get a real buzz out of that.”
Dan Hardy spoke with Jim Page
DAN HARDY'S TOP 5 TRACKS
1. Look My Way by Madball
A typically angry tune from the giants of hardcore Madball, Look My Way is an uncompromising and aggressive riff-heavy track perfect for getting amped up during a weight training session.
2. Walk by Pantera
Texan rockers Pantera gave rock a kick up the ass in the 90s, and this punishing track will do the same to you should you put it on in the gym. Guaranteed to get you going, you’d have to be dead not to feel something when this rhythmic tune kicks in.
3. Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits
A great tune to go jogging or to chill out to, Sultans of Swing is among Dire Strait’s most well-known songs. A driving, melodic piece of music, it still holds up well 30 years after it’s original release.
4. England Belongs To Me by Cock Sparrer
A rousing punk track, this gritty number is about a perfect an entrance tune as Hardy could ask for. When he makes the walk from the back to the Octagon, you can guarantee the UK crowd will get behind him.
5. Rudie Can’t Fail by The Clash
A classic piece of music from the genre-bending 80’s group The Clash, Rudie Can’t Fail is an upbeat ska-punk tune guaranteed to put a dose of funk into your shadow boxing.
