For anyone who has followed the career of Dan Hardy, they know that "The Outlaw" has never officially retired from MMA. And, based on a recent Instagram post, and his subsequent comments on The DAZN MMA Show, it seems the Nottingham man still harbors strong intentions to get back in the cage and compete again.
Hardy, whose run in the UFC was halted in 2013 when he was diagnosed with heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, has been one of the sport's foremost analysts having transitioned to life outside the cage. But, despite his success as an analyst – and his new role as the Head of Fighter Operations for PFL Europe – that burning desire to get back into the cage and compete still remains.
Last weekend, Hardy posted a photo of him connecting with a big left hand on Mike Swick, with the caption, "Time to dust off the left hook," with hashtags #BackToWork, #MMA, and #PFL.
The post attracted thousands of likes and several comments, but it wasn't until Hardy appeared alongside PFL play-by-play man Sean O'Connell on The DAZN MMA Show that Hardy addressed his post in detail.
"I was in Berlin (at PFL Europe 2) seeing some fantastic left hooks land, particularly Ali Taleb. I mean, I've been playing that left hook in my head over and over again," he explained.
"And then I've just spent the weekend at the Four Nations watching a whole bunch of young fighters go through the the tournament and win gold medals and stuff, and then I hear that somebody has been calling my name to the PFL. So yeah, certainly, I got that little tingle up my spine and that drive to start training again.
"I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not mentioning any names, because that would be putting the cart before the horse – I would say that he's had a couple of contracts with my name on before. So we'll see if the one that says mixed martial arts will get signed, but the boxing ones didn't. And we'll see.
"I mean, he's been posting stuff on his Instagram as well. I've been looking at and he's like, you know, talking about 'What goes on in the dark, comes to light, or something,. Whatever. I don't know. I'm excited about it. But at the same time, I'm, I'm questioning whether it's actually going to come about. But I will be ready for it, you can be certainly assured of that.
"You know, maybe people don't want to see Ronda Rousey back in there. Maybe people don't want to see me back in there. But I love fighting and I'm never retiring. If the opponent's right, and if the opportunity is right, I'm gonna put someone to sleep."
