• UFC 120

'I'm confident I can choke Condit out' - Hardy

Dan Hardy intends to be the man inflicting any pain dealt out on the mat at UFC 120 © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Condit reveals gameplan for wiping out Hardy
  
• News: Hardy wanted to punch Condit in press conference
  
• News: Hardy ready to fight Hughes or Penn to silence critics
  
• News: Hardy never considered quitting after GSP loss
  
• Profile: Dan Hardy

To guarantee your front-row seat for UFC 120 on October 16, subscription details can be found here.

Dan Hardy is the first to acknowledge that his title fight with Georges St-Pierre exposed holes in his arsenal that he will quickly need to fill, should he want to make another run at the UFC title.

After the loss to St-Pierre in March, Hardy embarked on something of a seven-month ground-game sabbatical which has seen him train extensively with Eddie Bravo in America. He then returned to England to join his Rough House team-mates for the run-up to his UFC 120 clash with Carlos Condit, where they drafted in something of a secret weapon in the form of Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu coach, Victor Estima.

Ranked as the No. 3 jiu-jitsu competitor in the world, it is clear that Estima is on a different level, and by working so closely with the world class grappler Hardy believes his own submission offence could make a real difference against Condit.

"I would say that," Hardy told ESPN. "There were a lot of harsh lessons learned in the last fight and there were a lot of things that I took back into training camp a couple of weeks after the fight - and I started putting them into practice.

"I surrounded myself with the right guys, the right gym and did the right training. The last six or seven months have really paid off... I'm confident I can take him down and choke him out."

Hardy was in full confidence as his final big training session went like clockwork, and The Outlaw discussed the contribution that Estima has made to the entire Rough House camp.

"What [Victor has given me] more than anything is an understanding... a better understanding," Hardy said. "It's very easy to go to a jiu-jitsu class, but it is the principals of what I'm doing and the concepts of control.

"Now I've put them into place and I can see the opportunities and just kinda work with the fight, but at the same time I can make opportunities with this understanding.

"It's that really - the understanding that I've never really had before."

Chris Park is mmatorch.com's UK specialist. To visit mmatorch.com, click here.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.