Hardy responds to Bellator legal threat

Former and hopefully future UFC fighter and current commentator Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy was not impressed with the Bellator MMA Chael Sonnen vs. Tito Ortiz main event. Although it is not conceivable, Hardy tweeted that the fight appeared to be worked.

The #Bellator170 main event was more choreographed than a Brittany Spears music video,” tweeted Hardy. “Shame really… It might have been a fun fight.”

The Outlaw later deleted the tweet.

But Bellator president Scott Coker made clear that parent company Viacom’s legal department could get involved if anyone was alleging that the promotion had fixed fights.

Now Hardy has responded in an interview with MMAjunkie. While a critic might say Hardy works for the UFC and is reflexively criticizing Bellator, his stance is nuanced. Hardy is not challenging the quality of the roster so much as the fights that are put forward in main events.

I made my stance clear,” said Hardy, as transcribed by Simon Head and Abbey Subhan. “I put out a very flippant tweet. Sometimes I forget I’m a UFC analyst, and I think I’m just an MMA fan, and my first gut instinct is just to put out something stupid and kind of funny to get a reaction.

I was disappointed in Chael’s performance. That was the bottom line. And I went on Ariel’s show, I went on a few others and discussed it, and made my point clear.

I think Bellator know that I wasn’t attacking them directly. I don’t think they had any kind of involvement. Personally, the onus falls on Chael because he just didn’t show up to fight, in my opinion.

And I was disappointed for Tito, as well. Obviously, he got the win that he wanted, but I think he was disappointed that Chael didn’t give him the fight he’d showed up for. Tito looked in great shape.

The other thing that frustrates me, as well, is Bellator have got so much talent on their roster. Why are we watching these old relics battle it out in main events? I want to see the talented fighters that they’ve already got competing.

I mean, [Paul Daley vs. Rory MacDonald] is a great fight. What a great fight. [Michael Page], we need to see more of that kid. We need to see him matched up against contenders that we know their status [so] we know where they’re at.

I think they’ve got talent on their roster that they need to push more. And I know that they’re trying to bring in their markets with their big old names, but they don’t get the performances out of those big old names, especially with them reaching 40. They’re just not on their game any more.

Hardy is 34, and was recently cleared by his UK doctors to return to the Octagon. He has not fought since a diagnosed of Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome in 2013. In order to fight, Hardy will also need to be cleared by UFC doctors.