Dan Hardy is currently a color commentator for UFC events and until a heart ailment took him out of action a few years back, he was a contender in the UFC Welterweight Division.
The UK born fighter may be returning to the Octagon, an Octagon he hasn’t stepped in since defeating Amir Sadollah at UFC On Fuel TV V in September 2012.
“I’ve done tests, I’ve got results back. It looks very positive,” Hardy said to MMA Junkie. “I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with the knowledge and information yet. But I feel confident I have paperwork to prove that I can fight again.”
There has been a lot of changes to the promotion since the last time that Hardy competed, the two biggest being that the UFC has new owners and drug testing is handled through USADA. Hardy feels that his biggest challenge lies with USADA, due to the restrictions and stipulations that he has yet to deal with.
“I suppose you could say that, yeah,” Hardy said. “The UFC’s changed a lot since I was fighting. (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) has come in now, and there’s a lot more restrictions and stipulations on stepping back into competition. So I need to cross all those bridges, as well, if I think about it, and if I think it’s right for me. It’s been four years since I’ve done a training camp so I have to see how my body feels. I’m walking at 185 (pounds), I feel strong, I feel lean. I feel better psychologically than I ever have in my career.”
The potentially returning fighter has previously challenged for the UFC Welterweight Title, losing to then champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111 in March 2010.
