10th Planet’s Dan Hardy vs. Mike Swick to determine No. 1 contender @ 170
Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy to determine No. 1 contender for Georges St. Pierre
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Sep 28, 2009 at 8:10 am ET
On Sunday UFC welterweight contender Mike Swick (14-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) took to Twitter and announced neither Matt Hughes nor Georges St. Pierre would likely be his next opponent.
That’s because he’ll next fight Dan Hardy (22-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to determine the next opponent for current 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre.
That’s the word from Mike Chiappetta of AOL FanHouse, who confirmed the plans with UFC president Dana White via text message.
White didn’t confirm a specific date for the proposed matchup, but since Hardy had been announced as part of the UFC 105 main card with opponent Dong Hyun Kim, the Swick vs. Hardy fight will likely replace that bout on that Nov. 14 card.
However, as of Monday morning, the Hardy vs. Kim fight remained listed on UFC.com.
UFC 105 takes place at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England, and airs via same-day delay on Spike TV.
Swick had been scheduled to fight Martin Kampmann earlier this month at UFC 103 in a No. 1 contender’s bout. However, the former top middleweight contender suffered a concussion a few weeks before the fight and was forced to pull out. (UFC newcomer Paul Daley took his spot instead and pulled off the upset victory over Kampmann.)
Swick is 4-0 since dropping to welterweight in early 2008 with decision wins over Josh Burkman and Marcus Davis and TKO victories over Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders.
Hardy, a British fighter, first joined the UFC in 2008 and has become one of the organization’s top U.K. stars. He’s currently riding a six-fight win streak, which includes a 3-0 mark in the UFC with a split-decision win over Akihiro Gono, a KO win over Rory Markham, and a split-decision victory over Davis.
For the latest on UFC 105, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Jesus, Dan got fat. And who’s the guy on the right?
ha