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- MARQUARDT SAYS HARDY DOESN'T DESERVE GSP- MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more

It's no secret that there were some critics that questioned the placement of Dan Hardy as the No. 1 contender for Georges St-Pierre's welterweight title coming up at UFC 113 in March. One person who agrees with that assessment is St-Pierre's longtime training partner Nate Marquardt, who commented on the upcoming fight recently.

Speaking with MMAWeekly Radio before his own match-up against Chael Sonnen, Marquardt didn't hold back when speaking about the brash British fighter.

"Some of the fans, hearing them talk and stuff, some of the fans are very passionate about Dan Hardy," he said. "Georges is just on another level. I honestly don't even think he deserves to be fighting Georges, but anyone, especially Dan Hardy, definitely has knockout power and Georges has to take that seriously."

The skill set that St-Pierre possesses is undeniable, and Marquardt believes that the gap in talent between GSP and Hardy is vast.

"He's so well rounded, and Dan Hardy's definitely not," the middleweight contender commented about St-Pierre and Hardy. "I think Georges could beat him in just a stand-up war, but when you throw everything else in there, Dan's in some serious trouble."

Marquardt understands the point of having new people fight St-Pierre, who has been nothing short of dominant, but he's quick to pay a compliment to other top contenders in the division gunning for a rematch.

"I think guys like Koscheck, Fitch, or even Alves, those guys gave him a very tough fight, even though he dominated the whole fight, those guys are very tough," Marquardt stated. "Any one of those guys could give him a great rematch."

Regardless of who else might get a shot, Hardy is currently in line, but Marquardt has full confidence in his friend and training partner.

"I think it should be an easy fight for Georges."

Agreed, I don't think Hardy deserves it yet either.

[James Deuce]

It's true.

[TheDoucheyWun]

Agree with both u on him not deserving it yet but who else is there?.. IMO None of GSP's previously beat opponents are ready for a rematch yet.. may aswell throw another bone in there for him to chew on, and maybe by a long shot Hardy n his punchers chance Could stun the world.

[CJRockstar]

The UFC is just trying to make the UK/European Fighters more attractive because up untill this point it was all Michael Bisping and nobody else. They are just riding the Dan Hardy popularity train till it derails like the Michael Bisping train did.

One thing is for sure, Hardy won't give up. He'll try to make it his kind of fight, and it shouldn't be a boring fight. Honestly though, the Brittish fighters tend to end up mostly on Brittish cards. So I think basically what the UFC is trying to do is to provide them with their chance to have a champion. But yah, he's not really deserving.

[lwbrewer]

Hardy has a Serra's chance. The bloke is going down

[YukonJordan]

Contender by default.

[kabenjis]

You cant Blame UFC for trying to make new fights....only problem is the best fighters have already fought GSP. It's been a while for Kos, and even a little bit for Fitch. But they deserve it more than Hardy. Maybe the UFC needs to try to get some new talent in the division. Not saying anything bad about the top tier WW in UFC, just that GSP has destroyed everyone put in his way. I'd like to see him beat up Shields. Hardy is a trash talker, and he does make it easier to sell tickets. Dont see him being the Brits first champ though!

[the_dark_angel_4ever]

I'd rather see Daley get a shot then Hardy at this point

[GSPvsSILVA2012]

There's 3 fighters I pay to see:

GSP has been out since July!

Rampage "retired" I know hes coming back but not till May and that's not even for sure.

Lesnar apparently has health problems and there are a lot of mixed sources some saying hes gonna be back in Spring, some say summer, then another says hes below 220 and facing possible retirement...

In that time waiting I became way more of a fan of other fighters. I love the sport so much more now and it's gonna be that much better when one of those huge matches come up.... Cain vs Nog, Mir vs Carwin, Rampage vs Rashad, Lesnar vs #1 contender, GSP potentially movin up....Even strikeforce I'm excited for now lol Bobby Lashley, Fedor, King Mo, Mosuasi, Henderson. I'll try not to get too off topic like I always do I just love talking about MMA. My point with that was yeah...GSP got an easy opponent but look on the brighter side, when he gets into another super fight it's just gonna be that much more entertaining and hyped up. He's not always gonna face Penn\Fitch\Alves level opponents.

[sikk]

Looking at the WW roster I do think Hardy is in line. I mean the only others that are on decent win streaks and that are big names is Fitch (3 wins), Daley (2 wins), and Koschek (2 wins). Hardy's on a 4 win streak and his last fight against Swick who was also on a win streak easily granted him the spot. I can see a Kos vs Semtex fight in the future with the winner fighting Fitch for a shot at the winner of Hardy GSP.