10 UFC Prodigies Who Didn't Live Up To The Billing
1. Dan Hardy
A Nottingham native, Dan Hardy had fighting in his blood and clearly had to learn to defend himself quickly. This was evidenced by him taking up Martial Arts training at the age of five, before beginning to compete in Taekwondo tournaments at seven years old. By the time he was nineteen, he'd already studied in Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wushu (travelling to China to do so), Muay Thai and even Boxing.
Mixed Martial Arts would always be on the agenda at some stage and 'The Outlaw' - after putting together a 19-6 record by the time he turned 26 - would finally sign for UFC in 2008.
Embarking on a four fight win streak, Hardy would knock off Akihiro Gono, Rory Markham, Marcus Davis and Mike Swick en route to a massively hyped shot at Georges St-Pierre's UFC Welterweight Championship.
He would lose the bout via unanimous decision, prompting a losing slide that would take two years to halt.
He would eventually get back to winning ways in 2012, beating Duane Ludwig and Amir Sadollah before being tragically diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Hardy would take up a punditry role in the company and ceased to fight in the Octagon from 2013 onwards.
In 2019, he announced on The Joe Rogan Experience that he would be joining the USADA testing pool, with an aim to be eligible for competition again.
If he can follow in the footsteps of fellow Brit Michael Bisping's career renaissance, there could be hope for Hardy yet.