Hardy wants Condit to bring it

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters are always trying to balance the sporting end, that is – winning the fight the best way possible – and the entertainment end, which is delivering a great fight.

At times the two goals are contradictory.

Dan Hardy (23-7, 1 no contest), who faces Carlos Condit (25-5) on tape delay Saturday night on Spike TV as part of UFC 120 from London, U.K., opened up that can of worms a few weeks back. In a column in This is Nottingham, a home town publication, he was critical of fighters who were trying to win without, in his mind, trying to actually fight

Some immediately branded his article as sour grapes, given Hardy’s last fight, on March 27, saw Georges St. Pierre take him down and render him useless for almost all of the five-round fight for the UFC welterweight title. But Hardy was quick to say that while he wasn’t happy about how his fight went, that was not what he was writing about, and had nothing bad to say about St. Pierre, who was constantly trying to finish him. Hardy’s complaint was about fights like the Aug. 28 match in Boston on Spike TV, where teammate Andre Winner lost a decision to Nik Lentz, who mainly pushed Winner into the cage and tried, and failed, to take him down for three rounds. The match kept spectators fighting to stay awake and television sets clicking off to other programming.

Hardy blames such fights on judges who overrate takedowns and fighters then working for a takedown, not to lead to trying to finish, but to trying to avoid fighting.

“Lentz didn’t come to fight Andre, he actually came to avoid one at all costs, like he’d be short listed for the Nobel Peace Prize and didn’t want to mess up his chances of winning it,” wrote Hardy, who compared Lentz’s aggression in the fight to Ghandi. “He couldn’t take Dre (Winner) down or get anything going on the ground. He didn’t want to strike and he didn’t go for any submissions, he just clung to Dre’s thigh like a sailor to a mast during a storm.”

Hardy, who noted he’s a fan of the sport, said that unless he’s in training for a fight, watches all the UFC events live in the U.K., which isn’t as convenient as it sounds given they air from 3-6 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and fears that too many boring fights will cause an erosion of the fan base.

“These guys who have boring fights, if they happen too frequently, they will run off fans, that means less people will want to pay to see us on pay-per-view in the future, and that affects how much we earn,” he noted.

So Hardy wants to put on a good fight, particularly since he and Michael Bisping are the two draws on Saturday’s show, which sold tickets at a faster rate then any UFC event ever held in Europe. But his other goal, to get back into the cage with St. Pierre, is dependent upon beating Condit in a battle of two fighters who are both generally considered top ten in the world at their weight.

Since the St. Pierre fight, Hardy has had almost seven months to work on the weaknesses showed in the loss.

“I think, to be honest, I think anybody watching the fight, it’s pretty obvious,” Hardy said. “I mean, my wrestling wasn’t up to scratch and my offensive jiu-jitsu wasn’t there. I couldn’t threaten him on the ground at all, and I could hardly get back to my feet. So they are the things I’ve been working mainly on. Just working solid on my jiu-jitsu and traveling around working with different wrestling coaches and just getting some good input on that.”

“I’ve just spent three months on my wrestling in the U.S.A., and I can tell you we all work very hard on all aspects of our game,” Hardy said. We are all improving all the time and the reality is me and Paul (Daley) lost to the two best wrestlers in the sport in GSP and (Josh) Koscheck.”

Condit was the architect of Saturday’s fight. He did an interview where he specifically asked for Hardy, figuring Hardy as a fighter with notoriety coming off the St. Pierre fight, and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva heard the interview and followed up on it.

“Joe Silva came to me and asked me if I wanted the fight,” said Hardy. “I liked it. I thought it was a good idea. Condit always brings it. He doesn’t mind standing there and trading punches.”

“A fight of the night bonus would be a nice addition to my bank account,” he said. “I mean, if it’s up to me, I’d just stand on the Bud Lite logo right in the middle of the Octagon and throw punches. I’m confident with my power and with my chin. So if that’s the way this fight goes, then I’m all for it. But like I’ve been saying, I’ve been working out on my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu and don’t be surprised if I take him down and put him to sleep.”

“Guys like Condit that bring it in every fight are going to have a job a lot longer than guys who don’t come to fight,” he said. “Look at Jorge Gurgel, he lost several times before he was cut.”

But Hardy was wary if Condit’s style will change to a more conservative game plan now that he’s under the tutelage of Greg Jackson, whose speciality as a coach is in devising winning game plans, that aren’t necessarily entertaining game plans.

Even though Hardy got no effective offense in on St. Pierre, being on the wrong side of a dominant performance, his personality in building the fight made him a far bigger star even with the loss. But no matter how well he promotes fights, without a win on Saturday he may become a mid-card novelty act.

And he was certainly not lacking in providing promotional material in recent days, saying that Condit fights wild and that he could close his eyes and throw a punch in any direction and it would hit Condit in the face.

Deion Sanders is unhappy about his ranking in ‘NFL's Top 100'

Future Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders has always had a mercurial personality, though the people who have played with him over the years will tell you that "Prime Time" is actually a lot more humble and hardworking than people may think. As Sanders will tell you, there's Deion and there's "Prime Time"; we know which one showed up on Thursday's "Total Access" show on the NFL Network to air a grievance about his place on NFL Films' "Top 100 Players of All Time" series. Prime was No. 34 overall, which you'd think would be pretty reasonable, but he begged to differ

Hilarious to be sure, but I'll side with Prime to a degree. If he was the best cover corner in the history of the game at his peak for a sustained period of time (and I don't think anyone who saw him would even debate that), and there are 22 players on the field at any given time, why wouldn't the best at one position be higher?

The problem is that this is a Top 100 overall -- the best, the most important, the guys who had the biggest impact in the sport. And I'm not sure how much Deion really changed the game because his skill set was virtually unrepeatable. It's all well and good to say, "I want to shut receivers down just like my hero, Deion Sanders," but unless your name is Darrelle Revis(notes) (who's done it for just the one season so far -- that's how hard it is to play at that level at that position), it just ain't happening. Prime may be unhappy that the list is weighted to the offensive side of the ball, but that's the way it goes. And the guys directly ahead of him -- Sid Luckman at 33, Jim Parker at 32 and Bruce Smith at 31 -- all have great arguments for their placements.
You know who I'd like to hear from on this list? Chuck Bednarik. The former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker/center was the last legitimate 60-minute player in the NFL, and he's never had complimentary things to say about other players who toyed with both sides of the game (Prime played some wide receiver as well, most notably whenever Michael Irvin was busy being suspended for his ancillary activities).

Bednarik has been an outspoken, even bitter critic of today's NFL players for playing on only one side of the ball, calling them "pussyfoots," noting that they "suck air after five plays" and that they "couldn't tackle my wife Emma." He even criticized Troy Brown(notes) of the New England Patriots and Deion Sanders of the Dallas Cowboys, two players who also have played both offense and defense, because their positions as a wide receiver and cornerback didn't require as much contact as the center and linebacker positions that Bednarik played.

Too bad for Concrete Charlie. Because on that Top 100 list, Bednarik was No. 35 -- one behind Mr. Sanders. Now, there's another guy who may have something to say about this whole process.

David Garrard's wife: Future Jaguars assistant coach?

Well, an armchair quarterback at the very least. That's the story coming out of Jacksonville and the Florida Times-Union, as the wife of Jacksonville Jaguars' actual quarterback David Garrard(notes) gave team offensive offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula a few new ideas for the offensive playbook at a recent birthday party for the Garrards' son. Said David Garrard:

"I said, 'Here's a great time to tell the coaches what you've been trying to tell me.' She was laughing with them and joking with them, and they know Mary. They know how she is and the competitor she is. It was more joking than anything. She knows I like to move around and run around a little bit more. She was just saying we've got to see that some more and see you running around a little bit. Not that she was coaching up our coaches or anything."

Through Week 5 of the 2010 season, the Jags rank 19th in Football Outsiders' passing efficiency metrics, and Garrard is 13th in quarterback rating (90.1) -- he's thrown nine touchdowns and six picks to date. He's also taken 12 sacks, which might be the real reason Mrs. Garrard wants her husband to roll out more often -- maybe he's too banged up for that Saturday "honey-do" list?

No word on how seriously Jacksonville's coaches took the suggestions, but considering the fact that Jacksonville's offense won't rival Indy's or Houston's for overall explosiveness anytime soon, perhaps another voice would be welcome. If Mary Garrard can correctly identify "Goalline Empty Right F Short Key All Fade" or "I Right Tight Close Goalline Fake 18 HO Force QB Keep Pass Left" (she'd probably like that one, as the idea is for the quarterback to roll out), we say that it's time to give her a shot

Peyton Hillis Hurt or not

Peyton Hillis Highlight

Peyton Hillis continues TD streak with ridiculous catch

The next time you hear the Denver Broncos mourn their sub-par running game, or you hear analysts bemoan that sub-par running game on their behalf, keep in mind that Josh McDaniels traded this guy for Brady Quinn

This guy is Peyton Hillis(notes), who once ran with Darren McFadden(notes) and Felix Jones(notes) in the Arkansas backfield that gave birth to the Wildcat. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2008 draft by the Mike Shanahan empire that predated McDaniels' current reign, and led the Broncos in rushing yards in Shanny's final season in the Mile High City. That Hillis did so with just 343 yards in 68 carries makes the feat a tad less impressive, but still ... Hillis saw just 13 carries in his second year as McDaniels went with other options, and he was traded to the Browns for Quinn, the eternal backup, and two draft picks in March of 2010.

What has Hillis done since signing on with the Browns? Oh, not much. He's just scored a touchdown in every game this year, including the amazing catch shown above. Going into Week 5, he was tied with Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew(notes) for eighth in the NFL in rushing yards with 322, and he has more rushing plays of 20 yards or more than Chris Johnson.

Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton's(notes) great year has made Quinn's involvement irrelevant, and against the Baltimore Ravens today, Quinn was a healthy scratch - Tim Tebow(notes), who the Broncos selected in the 2010 draft, was the second quarterback. McDaniels has made sone personnel moves that turned out very well (like the Jay Cutler(notes) trade that brought Orton to Denver in the first place), but it's pretty clear that he missed the boat completely on Peyton Hillis

Executive: UFC 120 expected to set European attendance and gate records

This month's UFC 120 event will be the Ultimate Fighting Championship's most successful European show to date.

That's the word from UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik, who today hosted a media conference call in anticipation of the Oct. 16 event.

UFC 120 takes place at The 02 in London, England, and airs via same-day delay on Spike TV. The show is expected to set European attendance and gate records.

UFC 120 is the first event in the U.K. since UFC 105 nearly a year ago. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported, that show, which took place at Manchester's MEN Arena, was the highest-attended European event (16,693) in UFC history. However, it fell short of UFC 75's $2.7 million live gate, an event at The 02 that that also set a European record.

Both records are expected to fall next week at UFC 120, which is headlined by British star Michael Bisping vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama.

"I think it's a testament to how big the UFC is getting here in Europe and the U.K.," Zelaznik stated.

In fact, because of the interest and ticket demand for the show, UFC officials recently opened new seating sections at The 02 for UFC 120.

The addition of those seats and the ticket prices, which ranged from $80 to $400 (£50 to £250), should set the record marks