5 biggest takeaways from UFC on ESPN 14: Dan Hardy vs. Herb Dean, Gustafsson’s next move, more

Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC on ESPN 14, which took place Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 14 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi? Here are a few post-fight musings …

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1. Dan Hardy vs. Herb Dean

One of the bigger talking points from this event was the conflict between referee Herb Dean and color commentator [autotag]Dan Hardy[/autotag], who had what’s now turned into a well-publicized spat stemming from stoppage in Francisco Trinaldo’s TKO of Jai Herbert.

There are two obvious things to be noted about this situation: First, the fight was absolutely stopped late. It was over when Trinaldo landed a bomb that dropped Herbert like a sack of potatoes, and there was no need for Dean to wait for the Brazilian to land four extra shots on his grounded foe. Second, Hardy is well within his right to criticize the finish to not just this fight, but any fight he wants from his commentary position.

The key words there, though, are from his commentary position. The lines started to blur when Hardy went out of his designated position of the booth to vocalize his feelings directly to Dean. Was the face-to-face tongue-lashing justified? Probably. Dean messed this one up. But that’s not Hardy’s role. There are regulators cageside in actual positions of authority who can express opinions and discipline Dean, if merited, after a bad call.

Not to get it twisted: Hardy’s passion is appreciated, and he made it clear both in the moment and in his statement after the event that he’s merely trying to hold the referees accountable and look out for the athletes stepping in the octagon, because he of all people knows how dangerous the sport can be. Those are the kinds of people we need in MMA, but he can’t allow his emotions to spill outside his duties on a live broadcast.

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Despite the UFC’s claim it will investigate the situation, it’s unlikely much comes of this. Ideally, it serves as a learning lesson for all involved. Dean has been the gold standard for refereeing for a long time, and because of that his mistakes are magnified compared to other referees. He’s made some notable errors in recent years, and this was one of them.

As someone who has interacted with Dean and seen what this job means to him, I can confidently say he’s going to be hard on himself about this. Thankfully, Herbert doesn’t appear to have been seriously injured in the loss, and all we can hope for is that Dean does better going forward.

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UFC’s Dave Shaw: Dan Hardy-Herb Dean conflict to be investigated by promotion

UFC senior vice president Dave Shaw said conversations will be had following Dan Hardy’s heated mid-event exchange with referee Herb Dean at UFC on ESPN 14.

ABU DHABI – UFC’s senior vice president David Shaw revealed conversations would take place back home in Las Vegas following [autotag]Dan Hardy[/autotag]’s on-air outburst at referee Herb Dean and subsequent exchange between the pair after Francisco Trinaldo’s TKO win over Jai Herbert at UFC on ESPN 14.

Hardy and his co-commentary colleague [autotag]Paul Felder[/autotag] were both clearly upset by Dean’s handling of the finish to Trinaldo’s stoppage win over debutant Herbert, after the fight was allowed to continue, despite Herbert appearing to be knocked stiff by a huge punch from the Brazilian.

Both men were vocal in their calls for Dean to step in and stop the fight, while even Trinaldo stopped to allow Dean to wave it off, before eventually continuing and landing four unanswered shots at the clearly scrambled Herbert before the fight the referee intervened.

Hardy was incensed, and photographs shared from cageside showed the former welterweight title challenger remonstrating with the official in the aftermath of the fight before the Englishman recomposed himself to conduct the post-fight interview with Trinaldo.

When asked about the incident at the post-fight press conference, Shaw admitted: “I wasn’t on the floor when it happened. I did hear some of the comments on the broadcast. Here’s the thing, being a ref in MMA is one of the hardest roles that you can have, and Herb Dean is one of our best, categorically. (The) bottom line is, health and safety of the athletes is of paramount importance. On the other side, you’ve got a guy like Hardy who, very successful MMA career, an excellent analyst right now, but he’s passionate and he’s fiery.

“The important thing for us to do is to try and get a handle and try to get an understanding of what actually happened. Obviously, this is not something that you address with either one of the parties during the show. These guys have a job to do and so we certainly don’t want to disrupt their efforts to do an excellent job, as we expect they always will. So we’ll go back, we’ll check it out, try to get a better understanding of what happened and really take it from there.”

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Hardy’s response drew words of support from the UFC’s lead play-by-play commentator Jon Anik, who tweeted, “Dan Hardy has always had my respect as one of the best MMA minds/analysts out there but he’s especially deserving of praise tonight. Analysts must be critical when they believe the situation calls for it. Can’t hold back. He didn’t. He’s not trying to make friends.”

But Shaw hinted that Hardy may have stepped out of line by interacting with Dean during the event, noting that officials should only be approached by regulatory staff during events.

“I guess the bottom line is there’s one group of people that are able to talk to officials during the fight night, and that’s (Marc) Ratner’s regulatory group, and no one else,” he clarified. “So we’ll see what happens next week when we get back to the office.”

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Top five UFC London moments: Michael Bisping’s win over Anderson Silva and more

With the cancellation of UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London this Saturday, we take a look at the top five UFC London moments.

The UFC was scheduled to make its 12th trip to London on Saturday before the event was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Rising welterweight star and England’s own Leon Edwards was set to face former UFC 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley in the UFC on ESPN+ 29 main event, looking to emerge as a title contender.

It would have been the latest in a series of memorable U.K. events dating back to UFC 38, which headlined by a matchup between then UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes, and Carlos Newton, which took place in London on July 13, 2002, at the Royal Albert Hall.

And throughout the years, plenty of English fighters got the opportunity to headline cards at home, putting on memorable performances in front of a sold out O2 Arena.

With the cancellation of the event, we take a look at some of the best moments in the British capital. From big knockouts, to crowd silencers, and historical moments, here are the top five UFC London moments.

5. Home run: Dan Hardy knocks out Rory Markham

Dan Hardy reacts following his knockout win at UFC 146 in 2012. (USA TODAY Sports)

One of the greatest fighters to ever come out of the U.K. was Nottingham’s [autotag]Dan Hardy[/autotag]. Sporting his patented red mohawk, Hardy entered the UFC with quite a bit of experience under his belt.

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In his second UFC fight, Hardy was matched up with hard-hitting welterweight, Rory Markham, who has never gone the distance in his career. After going to a split decision in his promotional debut, Hardy was set on showing off his power, predicting a knockout over Markham.

And he didn’t disappoint.

With Markham pressing forward, Hardy was looking to time the counter and it didn’t take long for him to connect, as just over a minute into the fight, Hardy tagged Markham with a counter left that sat him into the canvas. Hardy wasn’t happy with Markham’s comments that he didn’t have knockout power, and he made sure to make him pay.

Video: See Dan Hardy’s list of top 10 UFC fights of the decade

Check out Dan Hardy’s top 10 UFC fights of the decade. Do you agree with his list?

A lot of memorable MMA went down over the past decade.

And to recap some of the UFC’s most exciting and entertaining moments in the 2010s, former UFC welterweight title challenger and current color commentator [autotag]Dan Hardy[/autotag] takes a deep look at the top 10 fights in the company for BT Sport.

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Hardy’s top picks include fights such as Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald, Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje, Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne, and Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafson, among others.

Watch the video above to see which fight ranked No. 1 in Hardy’s top 10 UFC fights of the decade list.

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Dan Hardy: Leon Edwards motivated and dangerous ahead of UFC on ESPN+ 29 main event

Analyst and former title challenger Dan Hardy talks to MMA Junkie about Leon Edwards’ main event bout with Tyron Woodley at UFC London.

[autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] will head into his main event battle with [autotag]Tyron Woodley[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London with a ton of motivation and a lot to gain, according to UFC analyst and former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy.

Hardy talked to MMA Junkie backstage at the official weigh-ins for UFC 246 in Las Vegas earlier this month and gave his quick-fire take on the main event matchup set for March 21 at The O2. He said he thinks the time is perfect for Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) to step up and show the world just how good he is against former welterweight champion Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) in a five-round main event on home soil.

Hardy said the winner will deserve a title shot in his next matchup.

“Absolutely – I don’t see how not, especially if it’s Leon, because he’s been poised for this opportunity for a long time,” Hardy said.

Edwards is riding an eight-fight winning streak. His most recent three outings saw him claim decision victories over Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Woodley will be making his first in-cage appearance since he lost the welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 in March 2019.

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The pair have been going back and forth on social media, with Edwards appearing to get under Woodley’s skin when he mocked the former champ’s rapping skills. Hardy said the niggling exchanges on social media only serve to add another layer of interest to an already intriguing matchup.

“I think the timing’s right because at this point, they’re both annoyed – there’s needle between the two of them,” he said. “So I just think it’s going to add a bit of spice and a bit of flavor to the fight. I think it’s going to allow Leon to come out of his shell a little bit more and for the fans to see the kind of person and the kind of fighter he really is. He’s not reached his potential yet, and I think this could be the fight that would help him to do that.”

Woodley’s mission is clear: Head into enemy territory, snap Edwards’ winning streak and catapult himself right back into title contention. He also has a history of halting the charge of surging Brits, Hardy said.

“Tyron Woodley’s a very dangerous fighter,” Hardy said. “He’s got that piston of a right hand. He’s got a hell of a wrestling game. We saw him run through Darren Till.”

That result may serve as a warning to Edwards, but Hardy also said the Birmingham man may view it as additional motivation. Both Till and Edwards were battling for top billing when the UFC came to London in March 2019. In the end, it was Till who landed the headline slot against Jorge Masvidal, while Edwards had to content himself with a co-main event bout against Icelandic grappler Nelson.

Edwards achieved the better result of the two Brits that night, and Hardy said the opportunity for “Rocky” to succeed where Till failed against Woodley may serve as additional motivation ahead of the UFC’s return to England.

“I think there’s an advantage for Leon to get this win over Tyron because Darren Till didn’t – because there’s been that animosity between him and Till before,” he said. “I just think there’s a lot to be gained for this for Leon, and I think that’s a motivating factor for him. Leon motivated is dangerous, and I’m excited for him.”

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Dan Hardy says Leon Edwards is ‘motivated’ and ‘dangerous’ ahead of UFC on ESPN+ 29

UFC analyst and former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy says he’s expecting to see Leon Edwards on top form against Tyron Woodley at UFC London.

UFC analyst and former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy says he’s expecting to see Leon Edwards on top form against Tyron Woodley at UFC London.