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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When Dan Hardy was removed from this month's UFC on Fox 7 card last month, it was initially believed that the California State Athletic Commission pulled him from the event. The news came out that Hardy was found to have a condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition that fires extra electricity through the heart and can lead to a number of issues.
However, it turns out it was the UFC who pulled Hardy out prior to filing all medical paperwork with the CSAC. Hardy was examined by UFC doctor Jeff Davidson, and at the time was recommended to undergo surgery. It could have kept him in a matchup with Matt Brown, but that wasn't something Hardy was willing to do at the time.
"They could schedule me for a surgery within the next couple of days after my appointment, and I could go in, and they could put tubes up the insides of my legs and into my neck and see if they could find the extra electrical impulse, and if they could fix it, then I'd be out for a week," Hardy said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "Which immediately to me said, 'So, you want me to have the surgery, and then take a week off and then train for a week, and fly out for the fight?' It just didn't make sense. It wouldn't have happened."
"I've also got two incisions on the insides of my legs, and one in my neck. Logically, it wouldn't have made sense to have gone through that to make the fight, especially against a guy like Matt Brown. You've got to show up in your best condition, and having taken a week off to have a surgery would have been the worst idea at that point."
Hardy doesn't feel the need for surgery given he's never experienced the myriad symptoms that could come with WPW, and so he's now essentially left his career in the UFC's hands. But he seems to have resigned himself to that fact.
"It's ultimately the UFC's decision, anyway, regardless of what the commission says," Hardy said. "It doesn't really change a great deal. But it does let me know where the decision has come from, which is interesting. I would expect the UFC to say that the surgery is required in order for me to continue fighting for them."
"I've been in the trenches, and I've never had any problems. I don't see any reason why [the UFC] wouldn't use me, but obviously, the decision is out of my hands."
Penick's Analysis: The problem Hardy faces here is that, while he may not have shown any symptoms of this condition during his time in the sport, there is a possibility that he could have problems in the future. And because it's been found out, that leaves the UFC liable for things if he's allowed to fight with that knowledge. It's possible they'll ultimately let him continue on, but without getting the surgery - the route he plans on taking - then he's potentially at risk. Then again, he's at risk regardless of what he does because of the condition, and he's trusting what he's lived with his whole life, and the fact that he hasn't experienced issues on that front. So he'll sit and wait for now.
[Dan Hardy art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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