Mike Chiappetta is reporting that Mike Swick and Dan Hardy will fight for the UFC’s No. 1 contender spot in the welterweight division.
Chiappetta cite’s personal text messages with UFC President Dana White as his source. According to the report, no date for the matchup has been set.
Mike Swick was originally slated to fight Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 but had to withdraw due to a concussion. Kampmann faced UFC newcomer Paul Daley and was TKO’d in the first round.
Dan Hardy last fought at UFC 99 where he defeated Marcus Davis in a very close decision. Hardy is currently slated to fight Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 105, but that fight is now likely off.
Whenever the fight takes place, neither fighter is ready to face off against a fighter like Georges St. Pierre. With GSP having already run through the cream of the crop in the welterweight division, it appears the pickings are now very slim for Joe Silva and Dana White.
Can you imagine Dan Hardy getting a title shot after only defeating Rory Markham, Akihiro Gono and Marcus Davis (with the Davis victory a fight he lost in some critics eyes)?
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i woulnt want to fight gsp right now especially not these guys.and especially with gsp’s newly found wrestling.
Dan Hardy??? Since it was originally supposed to be Swick vs. Kampmann, why not the guy that destroyed Kampmann. I know most UFC only fans don’t really know him, but I think Daley is the #1 contender in the division anyways. Don’t think he has a prayer against GSP, but still, I think he’s as deserving as Swick or even worse, Hardy.
wouldnt that be something funny if Hardy can beat Swick AND pull off the upset over GSP, now that would shake up the welter weight division LOL.
Hardy… lol
Not only do i think that Hardy doesnt deserve a shot yet, he also hasnt looked impressive enough to suggest he could hold his own AND ALSO he doesnt have a big name to garner any interest in a bout with GSP.
Add that all up and its just ridiculous that hes even being considered.
To be Honest id rather see Daley (who hasnt earned a shot yet either)get his chance before Hardy, atleast hes a beast who has looked impressive and has that one punch power to be dangerous against ANYONE.
i dont mind so much seeing new people fight for the title, who knows maybe Hardy or Swick could have the answer for GSP. the problem is going to be getting people to care enough to buy it. one good thing that could come out of this is if they make a match with Swick/Hardy vs. GSP it will give them enough time to figure out one or two more LEGIT contenders and things can get back on track in that division.
What if Hardy beats swick? does he deserve a shot then? they probably want to find the next big UK star since Bisbing let the UK fans down. I read that the UK fans are being pretty hard on Bisbing. couldn’t happen to a better douche bag. Anyway I don’t think very much of swick so I hope he does lose. But if he gets a shot at GSP he’ll get smashed. not that I’m a big GSP mark I can’t wait to see who takes his belt away.
i dont think beating Swick puts Hardy even in the top ten let alone earn him a shot, but what ever, when you’ve beat all the top names they need to find you someone to fight. and you may be waiting a while to see who takes GSPs title, i cant think of one welter weight out there who wouldnt be a huge underdog against St.Pierre right now.
Banned if Hardy beat Swick, i would say give him the shot, no he wouldnt be ranked up there but someones gotta fight GSP. Personally i like Swick, hes got a good all around game and hes like 9-1 in the UFC and 16-2 overall. Its not about the record but hes definately earned my respect and he definately deserves the shot more than Hardy.
HERES THE PROBLEM
GSP last fought July 11, and i would expect him to fight in december sometime, maybe the new years card, and that would make it about a 6 month layoff. Thats ok for the champ, but whos gonna fight in december.
Swick fights Hardy in Nov, that puts both of them out till well after the new year.
Kos wants none of GSP, hes looking to beat up old timers like Trigg, now hes calling out Hughes, thats pretty cowardly in my opinion, but anyways hes out.
Fitch is slated to take on Almeida late october, so hes out.
Alves is fighting Paulo Thiago in december.
- Nobody else is in a position to get a shot, so if he fights the winner of Swick-Hardy, he has to hope the winner isnt injured, give them the 30 day medical suspension and it would be nice to have a few months to train for a title fight.
So this could end up being in March, that is TOO DAM LONG, in between title fights, Joe Silva screwed the pooch once again in my opinion………..
the reason for GSP’s huge layoff is because he needed to heal up and rehab his leg injury from his last fight. GSP’s camp has said all along the earliest he will be ready to fight is in 2010
Oh ya, his groin injury thing, from what i read it was a recurring injury and he didnt need surgery or anything. To be honest i think hes milking it a bit, taking a page out of Serras book hehe.
I wish the UFC would resign Nick Dias Jake Shields Mayhem Miller Robbie Lawler. I know Nick would do well at 170 and give GSP a good fight. Lawler and Mayhem probably couldn’t make 170 any more. Shields is pretty good but couldn’t beat GSP but I would still like to see it. They also need to sign Cung le to challenge Anderson. Not that he would win but damn that would be a good fight. Sorry I’m a little off topic.
those guys are good but now that gsp is implementing his semi lay and pray game its gonna be hard for someone to beat him.
i’d also like to see nick Diaz get a shot at Anderson Silva. I think that would be a great war. He has improved so much since the UFC released him years ago. when he was in the UFC he usually lost
via close decision. got rob on a few of them. not saying he would win it would just be fun to see.
Nick would get knocked out. He cannot hang with Anderson, he’s too slow and would get angry in the fight and lose because of it. I just don’t see who in that division or anyone below it is gonna take Anderson in 2009 or even the first half of 2010 – course if he starts slacking off in the GYM due to his self believed supremacy, then we might see Vitor knock him out. As for Di-azz, I just don’t see him dominating the division the way he did in those smaller cut rate orgs – he’s no longer in the UFC for a reason and his brother is less than impressive, although entertaining.