  English welterweight Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy (left) throws a punch at Marcus (The Irish Hand Grenade) Davis during their UFC 99 fight on June 13, 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO/UFC-Josh Hedges) |
English welterweight Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy will meet Mike (Quick) Swick at UFC 105.
Hardy (22-6 with one no contest) had been slated to fight Dong Hjun (Stun Gun) Kim on the Nov. 14 card in Manchester, England, but the South Korean was injured in training.
That opens the door for Swick, who has been looking for a fight since having to drop out of a UFC 103 matchup earlier this month with Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann after suffering a concussion in training. English newcomer Paul (Semtex) Daley moved up from the undercard to replace Swick and scored an upset knockout over Kampmann in Dallas.
The Daley-Swick winner would be considered a leading contender to challenge welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. The Montreal title-holder is not expected to return to action until February, however, because of an injury suffered in his UFC 100 win over Thiago Alves in July.
"Dan Hardy vs Mike Swick now for UFC 105. Should be a great one," Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC's U.K. president, said Monday via Twitter.
"Due to Kim withdrawing from injury, the Outlaw has a chance to prove the doubters wrong again and get a win over top contender, Mike Swick!" Hardy posted on his website.
"I don't know about you guys, but I feel a 'Fight of the Year' coming on...," he added on Facebook.
Swick also confirmed the fight on Twitter.
The 27-year-old Hardy is 3-0 in the UFC with impressive wins over Marcus (The Irish Hand Grenade) Davis, Rory Markham and Akihoro Gono. Swick (14-2) has been slowed by a string of injuries during his UFC career but is coming off an impressive win over Ben Saunders at UFC 99 in June.
The Hardy-Swick fight adds to a strong Manchester card, which features Randy (The Natural) Couture versus Brandon (The Truth) Vera in the main event and English middleweight Michael Bisping against Canadian Denis Kang in the co-main event.
The other two fights on the main card will feature the English winners of Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter" - lightweight Ross Pearson and welterweight James Wilks.
Pearson takes on Aaron Riley while Wilks faces Matt (The Immortal) Brown.
