During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Channel on March 23, Dan Hardy, a former middleweight UFC fighter and ex-UFC commentator, shared his harsh opinions about the current state of the UFC, Dana White, and Power Slap.
Dan Hardy: ‘The Company Has Been Rotting From The Inside For a Long While’
Hardy’s public spat with referee Herb Dean over a late stoppage at a UFC event in July 2020 caused tension with UFC leadership. Hardy was released from the organization in March 2021, though details remain unconfirmed.
Since leaving the UFC, Hardy has established a significant online presence where he expresses his views on the promotion without fear of scrutiny. Hardy has been extremely vocal about his dismay for White’s Power Slap endeavors and wasn’t afraid to elaborate further on the show.
“It’s very much Putin’s Russia inside of the UFC right now,” Hardy explains. “It’s depressing to see all of these people that are usually really enthusiastic about mixed martial arts that are carrying this weight of this ridiculous circus of Power Slap.”
Hardy continued, “The company has been rotting from the inside for a long while and now the rot is starting to show on the outside, and I couldn’t have abided Power Slap anyway.”
Dan Hardy Explains Dislike For Power Slap
Hardy sticks to his principles, explaining that his departure from the UFC would have been inevitable with the introduction of Power Slap. Hardy’s reasoning for his Power Slap disdain is affluently explained in his appearance on Triggernometry on March 1.
“I went through the years where the UFC, where mixed martial arts wasn’t accepted. So I had a lot of people telling me that I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing because they didn’t understand it. So I’m trying not to project my opinions onto Power Slap as a thing in itself.
“My main issue with it is that it’s so closely tied to the UFC, like we fought for years and years — when I fought [Georges Saint-Pierre] it was 2010, it wasn’t that long ago — most of my interview questions were about MMA, ‘why should it be a legitimate sport?’ I had people throwing the words ‘cockfighting’ at me. I’m like, ‘I am a professional athlete, I train all day every day, I am working on my skillset, I’m working on my physical conditioning; my sports psychology; I don’t drink; I’m dedicated in my diet, and you’re treating me like I’m a thug!’
“It’s not fair. Because I was dedicated to a sport. I guess in a way it reflects how strong the UFC brand is, but now they can stick Power Slap on the side of it and don’t feel like they’re doing damage to the sport. If you had done that in 2010, it would have completely invalidated the UFC as a brand.”
Hardy offers insightful observations on the haphazard integration of Power Slap into UFC promotion, despite the organization’s efforts to legitimize itself in the late 2010s. Drawing from personal experience, Hardy argues that Power Slap exemplifies the ‘human cockfighting’ image that the UFC sought to distance itself from.
Dan Hardy: Dana White Has ‘Overstayed His Welcome’
Hardy concludes, “I’m only in the UFC for [Veronica Hardy’s] sake now anyway, I’ll go there and I’ll corner and coach. I’ll talk about the fights with the fans, but as far as the actual organization goes it’s always going to be at arm’s length to me, especially while [Dana White is] at the helm, because, I just feel like he’s going to do more damage than anything else these days, he’s overstayed his welcome, absolutely.”
Overall, Hardy’s remarks about the UFC and its president Dana White are a reflection of his passion for the sport and his commitment to its integrity. While some may disagree with his views, his insights offer a unique perspective on the current state of the organization and its future prospects. As the UFC continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how it responds to criticisms like Hardy’s and whether it will make changes to address them.