Issue 101

May 2013

The bright-eyed beginnings of Dan Hardy, future UFC title challenger and history maker, as taken from the pages of Fighters Only’s May 2006 issue. Words by Richard Cartey.

It’s likely a certainty the 23-year-old Dan Hardy who spoke with Fighters Only in March 2006 didn’t have the slightest inkling. 

Not only of how significant he’d really become in the UK MMA scene he called home, but also in history as the first Briton to ever fight for a UFC title, and a man who’d help encourage over 770,000 North Americans to pay to see it. 

At the time of his interview, featured in FO Issue 13, Hardy was 10-3 (1 NC) and due to rematch Sweden’s Diego Gonzalez. Though Hardy made the cover of that same issue, his star was only just beginning to rise in his home country; a UFC contract over two years away. He’d had a storming 7-1 (1 NC) 2005 to suddenly lift an unremarkable 3-2 record. 

The man FO spoke to still had the same self-confident sneer in his speech that fans know today. “When I look at my opponent and their chin is up in the air, it’s like Christmas,” he remarked. 

And he was full of optimism about his career future too. “I need to pick my fights and fight people who are going to further my career, and get fights abroad and more money,” he said. “Obviously money’s not an issue but you need it to live and I don’t want to do anything other than train.” 

And though the present-day Dan Hardy is optimistic too,

he has an eye on retirement. A remarkable four-win opening to his UFC career in 2008 and 2009 rocketed the Nottingham man into fans’ hearts and a welterweight title fight with one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA history: Georges St Pierre. But it appeared his heavy decision loss in that bout at UFC 111 in New Jersey, plus three subsequent losses, stunned Hardy’s motivation. Despite two follow-up wins since, ‘The Outlaw’ recently 

made comments to MMA Junkie hinting at the close of his career. 

“There’s a time to review where you’re at and see what you want to do with the rest of your life,” he said. “And I think in that two years when I was losing, I had a lot of time to do that, and I made plans for the future that I was excited about. Now, I’ve got a second chance at my UFC career, and I’m going to run at it and see what happens after it.” 

Those plans likely seemed more appealing during the distasteful abuse, via social media, that inevitably follows any athlete’s failures. Perhaps it’s ironic, then, that the same medium which caused Hardy so much grief in recent years was actually once a source of positivity. 

“Looking at (the) Cage Warriors (forum) and seeing comments people have put, you get respect for what you’re doing and the hours you put in training,” he explained to FO in the May 2006 edition. “That’s one of the things that keeps me going, the comments you get off people. 

“Prediction threads, that’s another thing. I love reading the prediction threads where people think I’m going to beat the guy I’m fighting. It gives me confidence because people realize I’ve got the capability to do that.” A little optimism goes a long way. 

Elsewhere in the May 2006 issue

Hector Lombard, eBay item

In 2006, Australian MMA promoter Justin Lawrence put a three-fight exclusive deal for UFC middleweight contender Hector Lombard on auction site eBay. As we reported in our 13th issue, Lombard’s contract had

a starting bid of $125,000. At the time of the auction he was about to go 5-0 (1 NC). Pride snapped him up immediately afterward, likely helped by the eBay PR stunt. 

NostradaMMAus: Hughes vs. Gracie, predicted

FO’s May 2006 issue featured a four-page interview with first-ever UFC tournament winner Royce Gracie, who was on loan to the UFC from K-1 in order to fight promotional welterweight champion Matt Hughes later that month. Five Fighters Only contributors – writers Denis Martins, Damon Martin and Andrew Garvey as well as fighters Leigh Remedios and Ian Freeman – were asked to predict the outcome. Not one picked Royce to come out on top at UFC 60. The result? A first-round TKO for Hughes. Proof FO has always known its stuff. 

World Cage Fighting Championships

It’s often forgotten, but one of the biggest homegrown MMA events on British shores was World Cage Fighting Championships: No Guts No Glory – largely because it boasted boxing legend Mike Tyson stepping into the cage as a guest referee. He officiated a bout featuring the then little-known future UFC lightweight Terry Etim. Current UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem also appeared on the card. To boot, fight hero Bas Rutten was the announcer. 

A little someone called Anderson Silva

Considering his present position as the greatest fighter in MMA history (as deemed by FO last issue) it’s odd to see Anderson Silva’s booking at Cage Rage 16 opposite Matt Lindland mentioned in Issue 13’s event listings alongside Grapple & Strike 10 in the small Welsh town of Ebbw Vale. Silva ultimately faced Tony Fryklund and landed a highlight-reel upward elbow KO that earned him a UFC contract. From small elbows...