Runner-up Trophy on the Line for Swick-Hardy

MANCHESTER, England -- The trash talk emanating from the mouth of Dan Hardy has been inexplicably light in the buildup to his welterweight title eliminator against Mike Swick, but that changed at Thursday’s news conference for UFC 105. Hardy approached the podium to speak to the assembled media and offered a token of his appreciation to Swick.

“I actually got Mike a bit of something so he didn’t leave England empty-handed and just something to remember his journey by,” said Hardy. “I got him a runner-up trophy. Just so he doesn’t leave empty-handed. I’m going to be busy after the fight answering questions and trying to get a game plan for Georges St. Pierre, so thanks Mike.”

Swick accepted the trophy and held it up with a sheepish grin on his face. The room erupted in laughter before Hardy went on with his comments. He thanked Swick for taking the fight and complemented him but held firm in his belief that he would come out on top Saturday.

Holding his new accoutrement, Swick strode to the microphone and gave back as good as he got.

“I want to thank Dan Hardy for this trophy,” said the American Kickboxing Academy product. “That means a lot. Coming in runner-up in a press conference is pretty cool, but I just want everyone to know I’m going to give this right back to him after our fight.”

Speaking with Sherdog.com after the presser, Hardy talked about his thought process in concocting his strategies of psychological gamesmanship.

“To be honest, I just kind of go on what I feel, the mood of the people in the room and the kind of opinion of the fight,” said the 27-year-old Nottingham native. “I just feed off of that.

“I’ve not really said too much leading up to this fight and I think, more than anything, that is starting to get to Mike a little bit because I think he was expecting me to talk a load of trash on him and because I haven’t, I think he’s getting a bit anxious and he’s not really sure to expect. Now I can just poke at him a little bit and make everyone giggle from time to time, and we’ll have a good time and I’ll win the fight on Saturday night.”

Swick did not agree with the assessment and reaffirmed his belief that his experience will keep him levelheaded no matter what kind of antics Hardy throws his way.

“It’s funny. I don’t get all worked up, so everything works in a positive way for me toward the fight,” said a confident Swick. “I don’t let anything get in the way negatively. Nothing is going to interfere or cause me to lose sleep or get worked up.”

Hardy also acknowledged the added pressure that he has put on his own shoulders.

“I always work better under pressure,” declared Hardy. “I like piling that pressure on and I like, as Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys says, ‘I like writing checks with my mouth that my ass has got to cash,’ and that’s what I do. I function better that way because I know when I get in there, not only do I have to win because I’ve done a hard 12-week training camp, but because I’ve talked loads of trash on the guy as well and if I don’t do well, I’m going to look stupid and that just pushes me a little further.”

His opponent wasn’t buying his line of reasoning and had an alternate interpretation of Hardy’s actions.

“When people try this hard, you know, it’s usually insecurity,” said Swick. “So I just take it as weakness, but at the end of the day, I don’t care. I’m expecting to fight the best Dan Hardy there ever was. That’s who I’m preparing for, that’s who I am expecting to see, that’s who I want to fight. I want to go out there and mix it up and I want to have a good fight.”

In the end, Hardy says you have to entertain, win or lose.

“At the end of the day, that’s the risk you take,” Hardy said. “It’s a risky sport. You get in there and you put it on the line every fight and you could always come off the loser in any fight, but that can’t hold you back. You’ve still got to enjoy yourself and entertain the fans.”