Following his win over Sage Northcutt at UFC Sacramento last weekend, Mickey Gall left Planet MMA bemused when he called out British MMA pioneer turned Fight Pass analyst Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy.
So far Gall has been doing pretty well at calling his shots. He asked for CM Punk and the UFC obliged. He then called out Sage Northcutt and the UFC put that fight together too. But his latest call out left everyone a little confused – including Hardy!
The former UFC 170lb title challenger hasn’t competed since September of 2012 due to a rare heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. And making an appearance on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour Hardy explained his surprise to hearing Gall call him out.
“I almost spat my tea out of my mouth when I was watching it,” Hardy said. “It was like four o’clock in the morning when I was watching, and I just wasn’t expecting it. I appreciate the callout. I appreciate the respect that you’ve shown me. But I’ve never fought anybody with less than eight fights, not even in my first pro fight.
“It’s just, we’re in different phases of our careers. I’m not looking at knocking off a future contender that I’m possibly going to commentating for in the future. And at the same time, if I was going to fight, I want to fight a veteran.
“I want to fight someone who’s had 20-30 fights, who’s matured in their game and is sure of their fighting style, rather than someone who’s still developing. I like to see the development of these young fighters and I don’t want to interfere with that in any way. I’m 10 years older.”
While other fighters would have taken Gall’s callout as a sign of disrespect, Hardy read between the lines and didn’t take it personally at all, although does feel as though there are much better suited fighters currently available in the UFC roster for the young prospect.
“I think he’s realistic,” Hardy said. “He said in the post-fight press conference that it was a bit of a haymaker, a bit of a wild callout, and I appreciate that. It surprised me, but I appreciate that. It was very respectful of him. I don’t think it was done in bad taste in any way. I wasn’t offended by it.
“But you know, there’s 100 guys on the UFC roster who would be much better opponents for him right now. And Mickey is a kid. I appreciate where he is in his career. He’s had four fights and he’s an exciting prospect for the future. I don’t want to play a part in that, being a burden in his career in any way.”
