Dan Hardy A Bad Challenger at a Good Time

Following his upset victory over Mike Swick last weekend, does Dan Hardy deserve a title shot? 

If we are being entirely honest, the answer is no.  In reality though, the welterweight division is a bit of a mess right now as far as challengers go. Jon Fitch is working towards another shot, but he's not there yet. A win in his upcoming rematch with Thiago Alves will likely put him in that position, but he has to win first.  As for Alves, he will need another win or two beyond a victory over Fitch to get back in discussion for a title shot.  Josh Koscheck is still trying to rebuild himself after that KO loss to Paulo Thiago, and champion Georges St. Pierre handled him pretty easily in their fight in 2007. The Swick/Maritn Kampmann contest was supposed to decide a title challenger, but that got blown out of the water, and then Kampmann got blown out of the water by Paul Daley. Daley could become an attractive option as a future challenger, but only has one fight in the UFC and needs another win or two to get to a title shot.

That leaves Anthony Johnson, who couldn't make the 170lb limit in his last outing. He'll need to show 1)that he can still make the weight limit, and 2)handle the BIG step up in competition he's making against Koscheck. If he does both of those, he's realistically still another good win or two away from a title shot in an ideal world. He's still young, and you get the feeling the UFC would love to have Johnson as a centerpiece of either the welter or middleweight divisions.

As for Hardy, he's built up a bit of a fan base with a run of exciting fights. Does he finish them all? No, but when you can put on exciting three round fights, you don't necessarily need to in order to build up your reputation. On one hand, a win is a win is a win, and on the other, an exciting decision is just as good as a KO. The man is also a talker. He's already trash talked GSP a bit in the lead up to the Swick fight, and expect him to keep that up in building to title shot. Since he'll be the first Brit to challenge for a title, the UFC can do the fight in London or in Montreal and bring in a huge gate, and probably some solid PPV numbers.

And then GSP will smash him. It's a good comeback fight for GSP. Hardy can do some damage with his fists, but GSP with take him down and pound a win fairly easily. You get a PPV main event, use Hardy's limited appeal to it's full ability and you don't risk damaging their lone remaining, easy to deal with, easy to market, top 3 pound for pound fighter. Plus, you also don't rush a strong challenger and waste a big money fight. Koscheck's visibility and notoriety could make him a good challenger with a couple of wins, and Johnson takes his first real step towards being a contender Saturday by being in the semi-main event for the first time.

So, in a pure 'sport' sense,  Hardy probably doesn't deserve a title shot. But it's not entirely outlandish seeing as GSP has cleaned out the top of the division already, and it makes good business sense.

_________________