FanHouse DanHardy

It seems like every MMA fan, critic and fighter has an opinion on whether Dan Hardy deserves a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. And while many people -- most notably Josh Koscheck -- think he hasn't done enough to warrant the fight just yet, Hardy doesn't seem to care.

FanHouse spoke to "The Outlaw" last week about dealing with the criticism, his recent victory against Mike Swick and what kind of mind games he plans to play with GSP. The video interview is below.

After his UFC 106 victory over Anthony Johnson, Josh Koscheck proclaimed that he -- not Dan Hardy -- deserves to be the next contender to Georges St Pierre's title.

As you'll see in my rankings of the Top 10 welterweights in MMA, I think Koscheck is right -- sort of. I believe Koscheck deserves to be higher-ranked than Hardy, but I also think Hardy is more deserving of a shot at St. Pierre. The reason is simple: Koscheck has already had a fight with GSP, losing to him at UFC 74. Hardy hasn't gotten his chance yet.

So because I'd like to see GSP get a new challenge, I think Hardy is a fitting No. 1 contender, even though Hardy is just below Koscheck on the list below.

LAS VEGAS -- Josh Koscheck proved that he is definitely a force to be reckoned in the UFC's welterweight division after overcoming an early illegal knee to the head and eye poke to submit Anthony Johnson in the second round at UFC 106.

FanHouse spoke to Koscheck at the post-fight press conference about getting past the early controversy and his issue with Dan Hardy getting a welterweight title shot before him. The video interview is below.

In his own mind, Mike Swick already believes he's worthy of a shot at arguably the most dominant welterweight in UFC history.

"I definitely think I offer a challenge to [Georges St- Pierre]," Swick told FanHouse. "He's one of the top fighters. Pound-for-pound he might be the best, but I definitely feel that my style is going to cause some problems for him for sure."

He believes it, but this Saturday at UFC 105, Swick can prove it to the UFC organization and fans around the world if he dismantles British sensation Dan Hardy to be next in line to face St-Pierre sometime next year.

In the final press conference before Saturday's UFC 105 event in Manchester, England, Brandon Vera delivered an earnest show of respect towards his opponent and mentor Randy Couture.

"Come fight night, you're going to see potentially the best Brandon Vera that you have seen so far and I won't be hesitating at all, I promise," Vera said. "And that's for me and for Randy, so he knows that I'm coming along in this sport and that I've set goals and I'm moving forward for those goals. So he'll understand that I'm not playing around anymore. But all the respect in the world has to go to him.

"He's an ambassador for the sport. He's done his thing. He's five-time world champion, that motivates me more to be him, to beat that man."

The latest MMA fighter to use YouTube to promote himself is Mike Swick, who's doing a series of video blogs to promote his UFC 105 fight with Dan Hardy. The first one is above.

Dan Hardy is a fighter the UFC wants to make into a star, and so he's the subject of the latest series of UFC video blogs (Part 1 above, Part 2 below). On November 14 at UFC 105, he'll fight Mike Swick and get the chance to show whether his fighting skills warrant the promotion he's getting.

On this week's edition of The MMA Hour, we were joined by Dan Hardy, who faces Mike Swick in a No. 1 contender's match at UFC 105 on Nov. 14. Hardy talked about getting a shot to fight for the title early in his UFC career, MMA's popularity in the United Kingdom, and his recent criticism of Bernard Hopkins after the boxing legend blasted MMA.

Later in the show, we spoke to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker about the upcoming Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers bout on Nov. 7, the Dan Henderson sweepstakes, and when we should expect to see Gina Carano return to action. Ray Hui and I also looked back at UFC 104 and Brock Lesnar having to pull out of his title fight at UFC 106.

Watch or listen to the show below.

Former champ Randy Couture returns to light heavyweight at UFC 105 in a main event fight against Brandon Vera on Nov. 14 at the MEN Arena in England.

Also on the card, Mike Swick fights for a possible welterweight title shot taking on Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping looks to get back on the winning track in a middleweight bout against Denis Kang.

Below is the fight card.