• UFC Fight Night 24

Johnson will be seeing three of me - Hardy

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Dan Hardy is not concerned whether Anthony Johnson is suffering ring rust or if he has tendencies to deliver an unintentional eye-poke, because he is convinced the American will be outclassed at UFC Fight Night 24.

Johnson has not fought since November 2009, but Hardy is refusing to predict what effect that will have on their welterweight war. "He can either be in great shape because he's had time to work on new stuff, or he might have sat watching the Simpsons eating doughnuts for 15 months. It's a mystery," he told ESPN.

Rumble Johnson has also delivered eye pokes against Josh Koscheck and Kevin Burns, costing him the fight with Burns in 2008. "I can fight with one eye and I always keep my fists clenched, so he's got no worries of me poking him in the eye," Hardy quipped.

The real difference, claims the Outlaw, will be his own speed and technique. Johnson has been significantly bigger than previous rivals such as Burns, Luigi Fioravanti and Yoshiyuki Yoshida, but Hardy provides a much more equal match-up. And after one round of fighting, Hardy claims Johnson will be wishing he had prolonged his Octagon absence.

"The biggest difference is my speed," said Hardy. "He's a powerful guy and he's got a few techniques that he relies upon. But to have any success with them he's got to land them, and I'm very confident that I'll be quick enough to hit him with three or four punches before he knows what's happened.

"At the end of the first round, don't be surprised to see him go back to the corner and ask 'how many guys am I fighting?' I'll be hitting him a lot, and he'll be swinging and missing."

Johnson is a huge striker, which makes for an interesting comeback fight for Hardy following his first career KO at the hands of Carlos Condit. The Briton has not lost confidence though, insisting Johnson is the first step back on the road to a rematch with Condit.

"It's a roll of the dice at the end of the day, occasionally you get caught," the Rough House man explained. "I've managed to get 30-odd fights into my career without suffering that clean shot that's finished the fight. It was going to happen sooner or later, I'm sure it's karma for all the people I've put to sleep.

"It won't change my fighting style. It just makes me more motivated. I'm hunting Carlos. I'll get back to him. His time will come. I'd like to fight him straight away but that's down to him. He pulled out of his last fight and is turning bouts down left, right and centre. Maybe he feels he got a good win and he's going to ride off it for a little bit."

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