Dan Hardy

Daniel Mark Hardy (born 17 May 1982) is an English former mixed martial artist who fought in the welterweight division. During his professional MMA career, which began in 2004, Hardy fought in multiple promotions, such as Cage Force and Cage Warriors, before signing a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2008. In 2010, he fought Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship, but lost the bout via decision. Hardy was born in Nottingham, England, where he began martial arts training at the age of 5. Hardy's initial education was in taekwondo, and he later began competing at the age of 7. He started practicing other martial arts as a teenager, which included karate, jujutsu, judo and eventually wushu. After he had finished college, he began muay Thai and boxing at the age of 19. He then moved to mixed martial arts a year later. His nickname, "The Outlaw", comes from the screen name he used online when he was looking for training partners after a disagreement with a coach which led to his former training partners being forbidden to work with him.