Dan Hardy is firing back at Dana White and the UFC as the tension between the two parties continues to mount. All of that animosity was rekindled during UFC 280 fight week, when “The Outlaw” made some comments about White’s supposed “staged” concern for Calvin Kattar during his Fight Island headliner with Max Holloway in early 2021.
The bossman, of course, didn’t appreciate those comments and responded in his trademark manner. Now, Hardy is issuing his response in his recent live stream on his YouTube channel. Regarding his comments on the Kattar situation:
“I don’t doubt for a second that Dana was concerned. I was right there and amongst it. I could see the concern on his face. Ultimately, I feel like that concern was for the UFC, though. It’s the UFC brand.
“Calvin Kattar got $115,000 for that fight. That’s not enough. If you care about the fighter, you pay them more for that kind of damage.”
During the presser, White stated that Hardy may be “bitter” because he was fired from the UFC for “mistreating a woman.” From his end, Hardy had been clarifying that issue multiple times now, and once again did so in this live stream.
But with regards to White’s attack, the former UFC welterweight says it’s all part of the “narratives” that the company stirs up, particularly about fighters and employees who intend to part ways.
“It was the same narratives that they used because… and I’m no longer a fighter for the UFC. I wasn’t on contract as a fighter. It wasn’t like they could put me in there with someone like Chimaev to get my ass kicked.
“That was the plan with Nate: do as much damage to him physically and brand-wise as possible, so he is not valuable to go anywhere else. This is the consistent thing, unfortunately, with the UFC. People aren’t allowed to leave graciously.
“There’s never an opportunity where you can step away from the UFC on good terms because they’ve invested so much money on you as an asset, as a brand.”
Because of those “false narratives,” Hardy admitted that he was “bitter” to some extent.
“I’m bitter. Yeah, I’m a little bit, because a lot of false narratives have been told. And I understand that the UFC wasn’t just gonna quietly let me leave. They were gonna have to do something about it because they didn’t want me moving on to a different organization with any kind of worth to my brand.
“You will get damaged as much as possible so you don’t move on and do something else.”
Ultimately, Hardy says he’s no longer bothered by it, taking a page off of his former boss’ book.
“This is a lesson from Dana at the press conference: I don’t give a f—ck what people think at this point. I really don’t. I was fired for speaking my mind, twice. I’ve been defamed, they’ve tried to f—ng shut me down the best they can. They came after all my sponsors…
“I’m just not bothered at this point. I’m really not. I owe nobody anything. I am here for no reason other than because I love MMA, I love martial arts, and I like talking to you guys.”
Since his departure from the UFC in 2021, the 40-year-old Hardy has been focused on his analyst role for BT Sport, as well as his Full Reptile YouTube channel.