Dan Hardy no longer works directly with UFC after ‘disagreement’ with employee

Dan Hardy has been conspicuously absent from recent UFC broadcasts, and according to the one-time welterweight title contender and longtime commentator, this is no coincidence.

Following a report by The Wrestling Observer, Hardy revealed on Twitter that he no longer works with the promotion after a ‘disagreement’ with a female employee.

According to the observer, Hardy was terminated by UFC and British broadcasting partner BT Sport after having an ‘argument’ with the employee. According to the report, Hardy remains under contract as a fighter, although he has effectively retired due to a heart condition previously announced.

The 38-year-old Briton responded to a story from BJPenn.com about the news and disputed the characterization that his departure was due to dismissal.

“I no longer work directly with the UFC,” Hardy wrote. “The ‘female’ part is irrelevant. There was a disagreement about a chance that was missed or withheld, and I would love answers, but I do not get. ‘

After his career was suspended indefinitely due to the serious heart condition, Hardy switched to commenting and made rapid progress when he became part of the promotion’s A team for overseas events. In addition, he was the star of several pieces of shoulder programming, breaking down major UFC fights.

This past fall, Hardy made headlines when he clashed with longtime referee Herb Dean over a call at UFC Fight Island 3. Hardy yelled at Dean to stop the fight when Jai Herbert was knocked out by Francisco Trinaldo, and then the two a hard oral exchange captured on camera. The UFC said it was investigating the incident.

Thereafter, Hardy and Dean both released videos defending their actions during the event; Dean said the strike was just that, while Hardy said it represented a pattern of missed calls (Hardy’s video was later removed because it violated YouTube’s terms of service).

“Herb needs to understand that a mistake has been made here, and that responsibility must be taken that needs to be taken,” Hardy said. ‘It’s just a learning opportunity, and if it’s not used as a learning opportunity, we will all lose, especially fighters and brain cells. … We need to improve the awareness of some of these officials, and we also need to hold them accountable for situations like this, when they can not accept it. ”

Over the past month, Hardy seemed to shift his focus from commenting on a comeback in the octagon, and veteran Matt Brown, who he would fight, called out before his condition, known as Wolf Heart Syndrome, knocked him out of the fight forced. Brown was previously booked against Dhiego Lima, and Hardy turned on one-time title challenger Nick Diaz, who has not fought since 2015. The Diaz battle has yet to materialize.