We may see Dan Hardy stepping into a boxing ring before a return into the MMA cage.
In a recent podcast on the latest “Real Quick with Mike Swick”, Hardy expressed that he is most likely to be stepping into boxing next rather than his teased return at MMA.
“I’ve had a few people message me and ask me to see if I’m interested in doing this and that, but the best offer right now looks like boxing,” Hardy said.
Recently, Hardy was able to get the UFC to release him from his fighting contract in order to pursue a return to MMA in different promotions. It is surprising to hear Hardy speak of a possible venture into boxing when he has been a lifelong martial artist having competed in the sport professionally since 2004.
The 39-year-old has not competed in MMA since 2012. His last fight was against Amir Sadollah in front of his home crowd in Nottingham, where he earned a unanimous decision win.
Some time after the fight, Hardy suffered from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a heart condition which forced the Nottingham native to step away from the sport of MMA whilst he assessed his options. During his time away he has teased a return to MMA over recent years but has not been able to settle on a suitable opponent for his return bout.
After fighting, “The Outlaw” went on to become one of the most respected analyst and commentator of MMA. His knowledge of the fight game shined through which made the MMA community appreciate his eye for analysing fights through working for the UFC, BT Sport and on the Full Reptile Youtube Channel.
A lover of combat sports, Hardy may be settling on the squared ring instead of a cage which has certainly raised some eyebrows. However over the last couple years, we have seen the likes of former NBA players, former MMA fighters and celebrity Youtubers enter the sport of boxing so it wouldn’t be completely outside the norm.
Hardy expressed that he may be fighting in the squared ring near the end of 2021 but has not ruled out his true passion which is to get an MMA fight, possibly next year.
“I might look at doing a boxing match towards the end of the year and then maybe see where MMA is next year, but I’d like to have another MMA fight,” Hardy said.
Do you think we will see Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in boxing soon?
