• UFC

Hardy clears up Marquardt disagreement

Dan Hardy has cleared up a misunderstanding about his recent criticism of lay-and-pray tactics, insisting he has no problems with seeing a good wrestler in MMA.

Hardy attacked Nik Lentz's performance against Andre Winner at UFC 118, claiming he avoided a fight at all costs. The Outlaw's comments instantly drew a response from Nate Marquardt, a winner at UFN 22 on Wednesday, who told Hardy to stop complaining and learn some takedown defence.

Speaking to ESPN, Hardy insists he has no problem with wrestlers who come to do damage inside an Octagon, but the British welterweight warned that the sport of MMA will die if fighters continue to produce performances like that of Nik Lentz.

"My point is not that people are using wrestling in MMA. I love a good wrestler who employs the takedown, beats people up and works for a submission," Hardy told ESPN.

"The problem is a lot of people are realizing they can score a lot of points and play to the judges, and they forget that they're in a fight. They're looking at it more as a collegiate wrestling points-scoring match.

"For me, if you call yourself a fighter, you get in there with the intention of putting a beating on your opponent or getting a submission. Whenever I get in a fight, my intention is always to knock the other guy out. I would take a submission, but my intention is always to put a beating on somebody. Even if I can't get the stoppage, I want people to see that I've tried to get it."

Hardy continued: "A lot of wrestlers will get the takedown and then hide their face in their opponent's belly button for five minutes. The problem is, the sport's still growing and we still need to draw new fans to the sport.

"I was talking about the Andre Winner v Nik Lentz fight. Now usually Nik is an exciting fighter, but he knew Andre was dangerous so he took the safe route. But the problem is, statistically it's been proven that they lost pay-per-views, which affects the other people on the card through sponsorships etc.

"If everybody fights like that, the sport will fade away."

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