GSP and Dan Hardy
Date: 2010-03-12 00:00:00
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/361953-ufc-111s...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
If we were so inclined to take the time to peruse the crime annuls of the world, we would not be at all surprised to find that throughout History there were many notorious so-called "Outlaws" who were eventually gunned-down or "hanged by the neck until dead." What is extremely surprising however, are the mysterious facts surrounding such events, specifically that many of these outlaws—no matter how brutal or sensational their crimes—were treated more like heroes or glorified martyrs, rather than felons. According to this recent article written in my home Country of Canada, which is also home to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, the same could be said of his next opponent; British cage fighter, Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy. GSP, who is known world-wide as a " UFC golden boy, " and also as one of the top MMA promotions most elite and dominant champions—may be losing ground, or so it seems, in the "fan popularity department" to his over-confident English foe. The 27-year-old Nottingham native Hardy, ( if we chose to believe him) says he was surprised to find that he is greatly admired in the most unlikely of places, the home turf of the man he looks to annihilate on March 27. The "tough as nails British outlaw" then provides solid evidence by offering up numerous emails from his personal website. "I've been really surprised, to be honest," Hardy told The Canadian Press on Friday from New York. "I'm probably getting, I don't know, 20 to 30 emails a day from Canada." "People wishing me all the best and saying that obviously they're GSP fans but they hope I win - which has been a surprise." "I don't think it's anything against GSP. I just think that people are ready for a change. People are ready to see somebody new with the belt. Obviously me winning the belt is going to open up the welterweight division." Strangely enough, Hardy is behaving more like a British bulldog, rather than the insurmountable underdog he is in reality. And as the number of doubters continue to pile-on, or pile-up, it is with the same incredible intensity that Hardy's passion to become the "bonafide James "Buster" Douglas" of cagefighting also rises. "For the most part, people are counting me out entirely," said Hardy. "Which is a silly thing to do, especially in a sport like mixed martial arts. Because as we know anything can happen. " "I'm very confident that this fight's mine. Every time I get an email or I read a forum (on the Internet) and they're counting me out, it's just makes me more excited that I'm going to be proving them wrong." Whoever you are, or wherever you may reside, it's extremely difficult—in my humble opinion, not to admire that type of belief in oneself. When this bold British outlaw speaks of Canadians who are fans of St. Pierre, but who wish him luck, he can name this writer among them. Go get 'em gunslinger Hardy! All the best of luck to you, because God knows you're gonna need it.
