UFC 105: Dan Hardy Beats Mike Swick by Decision, GSP Next
11/14/2009 5:03 PM ET By Michael David Smith
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- Michael David Smith
- Michael David Smith is FanHouse's Lead Blogger
Dan Hardy earned No. 1 contender status in the UFC's welterweight division on Saturday in Manchester, England, defeating
Mike Swick at
UFC 105.
The first round got off to a slow start, with Hardy landing one punch before they clinched against the fence. Swick then landed a knee to the groin that caused a pause in the action before they went right back to their clinch-fest. It was a fairly uneventful first.
Early in the second, Hardy drilled Swick with a hard punch, and for a moment he appeared to have Swick in serious trouble, but Swick was able to hold on to Hardy and give himself time to recover. For much of the second Swick and Hardy stalemated, but late in the round they began to exchange and both landed shots. After the second round, Swick's corner could be heard telling him that he was losing the fight and needed to press the action.
But it was Hardy who pressed the pace in the third, landing both punches and kicks on his feet and then going to the ground and landing punches to Swick's face from inside Swick's guard. With just over two minutes remaining, the referee stood the fighters up, and for the last couple of minutes they were cautious on their feet, with Swick not doing enough offensively to earn the decision.
The judges scored it 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Hardy.
Up next for Hardy is UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who has been resting since suffering a groin injury at UFC 100. St. Pierre has so thoroughly dominated his recent opponents that it's hard to see him losing. But he'll get a challenge.
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Controversial End to UFC 105
Randy Couture punches Brandon Vera at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Josh Hedges, UFC
Randy Couture and Brandon Vera touch gloves before their UFC 105 showdown on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera kicks Randy Couture at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Randy Couture tries to take down Brandon Vera at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera kicks Randy Couture at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Randy Couture punches Brandon Vera at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera looks to attack Randy Couture after knocking him down at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera punches Randy Couture at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Randy Couture punches Brandon Vera at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera and Randy Couture battle at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Brandon Vera and Randy Couture battle at UFC 105 on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England.
Josh Hedges, UFC
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dan hardy doesn't stand a chance against st. Pierre
What happened to go Wanderlai. lol
I would say so too but I didn't think he could beat Davis or Swick either. He has a big punch and we all know what Serra did. He could get lucky.
Go Wanderlei.
Hardy won for sure ... watched it live online. Swick looked anorexic in this fight.
The biggest crock of BS was the Couture decision. He did NOTHING the entire fight yet got the decision. That may have been worse than Machida winning his decision over Rua.
If Couture thinks he is going to have a chance at Machida fighting like that he is living in fantasy land. He looked slow, old and weak.
Thanks Johnny you spoiled it for me too lol. Where did you catch the fight?
@John haha. coming from 911 conspiracy theorist. Please man. Couture won round 1 and 3. Of course, you believe 911 needed "exposing" People like you need to be taken off streets.
@M13
Sorry man but since this was being shown on tape delay in North America (because of the time difference) I just watched it online on ESPN UK at Justiv.tv ... didn't mean to spoil it for anyone.
@exp
Thats real classy. You seem to handle opposing points of view extremely bad. Not everyone is a close minded psychophant like yourself. I never said anything about 911 being an inside job or conspiracy so I'm not sure where that came from ... oh like everything else you say it comes from thin air.
I was just playing man. It was my fault, I forgot they keep live updates of all events. Just forgot to not come.
Oh and by the way, I just spoiled the outcome of the fight for myself. Awesome.
Great victory. He has a lot of potential, and still a lot more room to grow, which is why i wish he wouldn't face FSP too soon. GSP is a really refined fighter.
I see GSP having no way to lose. GSP has good striking, and if Hardy is able to phase him standing, he won't be able to fend off GSP's takedowns and ground and pound.
GSP will be champ for a long time. He's i a different class, all by himself. Serra, he got lucky and George learned from that. He can still make a mistake, but not like he did with Serra.
That was lucky bar room punch. It won't happen again.
Couture's fight may not have looked good but he played it smart, neutralizing Vera's opportunities to break his ribs!
As for Swick, he looked like a scared rabbit. Skill wise, he is more versatile than Hardy but once he got a taste of Hardy's power, he was afraid to do his thing. Hardy was just too strong, abd his punches too lethal for him to take any risks.
Hardy stands in the pocket and delivers counter strikes better than any other 170er IMO. Hardy is a big strong welterweight ... if he commits 100% to his wrestling and conditioning, I think he has a legit chance against GSP. At least I hope so anyway. I want to see an exciting evenly matched title bout.