FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : The Specialists UK SCENE: Koshcheck calls out Dan Hardy, but Koscheck's case for a title shot against GSP is weaker than Hardy's, plus TUF showdown, BritPack's future, and UK News

Nov 23, 2009 - 3:19:36 PM
By Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
"I know there's someone here that thinks he's the #1 contender, he thinks he's the #1 contender and I think he hasn't fought anybody and he's sitting right over there. His name's Dan Hardy."

Those were the words of Josh Koscheck talking to Joe Rogan after his "strategic" victory over Anthony Johnson this past Saturday.

Koscheck blasted that he would be the one to fight GSP for the title next. Koscheck stressed an elimination matchup between himself and Hardy would define the real number one contender. "February, I know they're looking for a card. Dan Hardy vs. Josh Koscheck sells, let him fight in the States first."

Ironically, this is the fight I had wanted next for Hardy as he makes his run at the 170 pound crown. However I don't see what right Josh Koscheck has to say Hardy doesn't deserve his shot seeing as though his own case for a title shot is full of holes.

Not only has he indirectly insulted his training partner (Swick) by claiming Hardy hasn't fought anyone, he was absolutely dominated the last time he and St Pierre squared off. If that wasn't enough he came into this fight having been knocked out in his penultimate fight against Paulo Thiago.

I have never for one second doubted that Dan Hardy deserves his title shot. He has defeated whomever has been put in front of him. My only concern was whether he has enough top level experience to make the jump from a Swick to a GSP. A fight with the likes of Koscheck or Fitch would bridge that gap.

Dan Henderson and Stefan Bonner discussed Hardy's pending shot, along with his victory over Swick on "MMA Live" with presenter John Anik.

Hendo said he felt the biggest difference was the Brits chin. "Hardy seemed to walk through Swick's punches." Bonner added "Yeah I was really surprised to see that, considering Swick has a lot of knockouts on his belt, his punches seemed to have no effect on Hardy whereas when Hardy landed a punch Swick's knees buckled, he did a little fish dance. That happened a few times."

All three seemed certain that after his recent performances Dan Hardy more than deserves his title shot with Bonner asking a very valid question: "Who else deserves it?"

Hendo went on to say, "You got a good contender here that's real dangerous to St Pierre. It's not gonna be a walk through for him. St Pierre's should win but Hardy's dangerous."

The topic was rounded up by Anik stating, "We gotta look a Dan Hardy now as one of the UFC's welterweight elite."

UK HIT FOR SIX

After a complete sell-out crowd at the M.E.N Arena last weekend, UK President Marshall Zelaznik has claimed the organization could hit these shores as many as six times during 2010.

Zelaznik was speaking exclusively to UK tabloid "The Daily Star" reflecting on the success of UFC: 105 in Manchester. Along with the show being a huge success on paper, there were no fewer than seven Brits walking away with victories and this left Zelaznik a very happy man.

The only stumbling block for the UFC returning so many times, would be venue availability. "We are limited to about four or five venues but I think we can have maybe six events a year in the UK and sell them all out and continue to deliver compelling cards."

The obvious choices for venues would be return trips to the London O2, The M.E.N Arena, The Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle as well as the N.I.A In Birmingham. Both Dan Hardy and Paul Daley are Nottingham lads so to put on a show at the Nottingham Arena must be a high priority.

If the UFC really are to hit the UK half a dozen times you can only assume at least two or three of these events will (hopefully) be "Fight Nights." We have some fighters here now who deserve the kind of coverage that these events give up and coming fighters. Look at Anthony Johnson, he came through the ranks on these events and just this past weekend was co-main event against Josh Koscheck.

Events are becoming more and more regular and with the first show in Australia coming, returns to Ireland and Germany as well as breaking into even more markets it won’t be long before we have a show every Saturday night.

McSWEENEY GETS A TUF SLICE OF ACTION

After another week of will he fight, won't he fight; it appears Matt Mitrione will finally eliminate himself from the heavyweight tournament. At first the obvious outcome assumed was that Londoner James McSweeny would square off against backyard brawler Kimbo Slice instead.

Mitrione's games clearly aggravated McSweeny who ranted to Kimbo and Scott Junk "It doesn't seem professional to me if you're a fighter then fight. It's disrespectful to the opponent, its disrespect to the person like yourself who'd love a chance to get back in. That punk is playing games and he shouldn't do it."

In a further twist Kimbo Slice appeared to aggravate a knee during sparring. After consulting the doctor it turned out the cartilage in Kimbos knee had worn away causing a bone on bone like pain. The doctor told Kimbo there was fluid on the knee that they were able to drain using a needle.

Like many people in this world it turns out Mr. Slice has a needle phobia. "I'm not getting stuck by no damn needle." This left Rampage and Kimbo to try and come up with a new game plan to protect the knee. Knowing that McSweeny is a kicker Rampage stressed that Slice needs to go in there and knock him out early knowing McSweeny is "gonna try and kick your leg off."

In the teaser for next week we do see the sole British contestant squaring off, but against whom? Will Kimbo slice be able to come up with the right game plan to protect his injured knee and get to fight against McSweeny?

Slice added, "He's a kicker, he's a tree chopper, but I will fight again. I wanna be an Ultimate Fighter."

WHATS NEXT FOR THE BRITPACK?

One thing we now know for sure is that Dan Hardy will be next in line for a crack at GSP's crown. So what lies ahead for the rest?

For Michael Bisping, I have said before, I want to see him face Wanderlei Silva, and with Silva looking doubtful for his main event in Oz, this could open the door for that clash possibly at the next UK event.

Paul "Semtex" Daley will be squaring off against Carlos Condit at UFC: 108 on January 2. I expect nothing less than a knockout for Semtex. He looked unstoppable in his UFC debut as he squared off against number one/two contender, Martin Kampmann. Daley knocked Kampmann silly and this could well be another short night's work for the man I believe has the heaviest hands in the division. After this I desperately want to see him face Thiago Alves. This would be a huge fight for Daley and one I think he can win. Bisping generally takes the main headlines on these shores but Daley is arguably the best fighter to ever come out of the UK and a win over a star like Alves would really put him on the map.

Brad Pickett's future looks to be clicking into place as the path has been cleared for the American Top Team member to makes his WEC debut next month. Pickett signed a multi fight contract with the organisation but has been waiting on his U.S work permit to be granted before being matched for his Bantamweight debut. Pickett has now been officially announced to square off against Kyle Dietz on Dec. 19.

Ross Pearson looked outstanding in his UFC debut and if we do see a "Fight Night" over here he could well headline such an event. There are several opponents that come to mind but a match up with Melvin Guillard could be a real stand up war. Nick Osipczak looked very good in his win over Matt Riddle and as I said last week I want the rematch between him and Demarques Johnson.

Andre Winner made short work of Roli Delgado at UFC: 105. I'm not sure who would be the best move forward for him. Most contenders such as Maynard and Diaz are tied up and he needs more fights before attempting the likes of Joe Stevenson. However, I want him to take on a fighter who is fairly highly regarded; perhaps a shot at Efrain Escudero,

John Hathaway is the least-recognized of all the Brits on the Manchester card. However, his victory over Paul Taylor opened up a lot of people's eyes. James Wilks showed a lot of heart in his bout with Matt Brown, but ultimately came up short. Both Hathaway and Wilks have great ground games so a second Battle Of Britain this time between Hathaway and Wilks could be a very intriguing matchup.

Paul Kelly suffered broken ribs and a broken cheekbone in his defeat to Dennis Siver. It was reported Kelly could be out for as long as nine months with his injuries. At this point I don't even want to try to match him and just hope he makes a very speedy and full recovery.

Terry Etim is riding a four fight win streak since dropping back to back decisions to Gleison Tibau and Rich Clementi. Etim has been outstanding in all of his last four fights and I would like to see him fight back in the states. Cole Miller could be a good test for him at this point. Eventually, I want to see him square off against Nate Diaz.

"Judo" Jim recently overcame a tough test in Che Mills to make it six wins on the bounce and leaving no one left to fight on the UK scene. It MUST be time now for this lad to get his shot at the big time. With Dan Hardy and Paul Daley fighting their next fights in the States, we need to keep the new talent coming through and Wallhead should be the next Brit to break through.

OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF.

-It has been confirmed than Dan Hardy's title shot against Welterweight Champion GSP will not be the climax to TUF 11. It was previously reported that the two could be the coaches on the next season. This will not be the case meaning these do will do battle much sooner.

-Patrick "The Predator" Cote has called out Michael Bisping for his comeback fight. Cote has not fought since blowing out his knee at UFC: 90 against Anderson Silva and has expressed his interest in fighting "The Count."

-Bruce Buffer has stated that Dan Hardy is one of his favourite fighters to introduce. Buffer told "Fighters Only" magazine "We're like two rock singers trying to outdo one another. He's shouting the words right back at me "

-John Hathaway made three predictions ahead of his clash with Paul Taylor. Hathaway claimed Andre Winner and Michael Bisping would win their bouts via KO and that he would take Paul Taylor to the ground and dominate from there. Any chance of the lottery numbers?

-UK MMA legend Ian "The Machine" Freeman has expressed his desire to return to the cage in 2010. Freeman will hope to return to the big stage where he had great success first time round, most notably defeating Frank Mir at UFC 38

So an interesting week all in all, just have to wait and see if McSweeny does face off against Kimbo Slice. I also wouldn't be surprised if there is an announcement on the Welterweight Title fight this week. I hope to have my interview with Paul Daley in the next week ahead of his fight with Carlos Condit so stay tuned for that soon.

[Dan Hardy art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]

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