Rumour: GSP and Hardy Considered for TUF

Gareth Davies of the UK Telegraph writes about the possibility of Georges St-Pierre and Dan Hardy coaching on a future version of The Ultimate Fighter:

The Telegraph also understands that the UFC may be considering offering coaching places to the pair for the next series of The Ultimate Fighter. The irony in that is that Hardy has just bought a flat in his native town of Nottingham with his American girlfriend, who lives in LA and works in the fashion industry, planning to move to the UK. Hardy had spent the last few years living in LA, between returning for training camps.

  

Hardy admitted that having his girlfriend Octagonside for the first time meant that “Swick was going to have to do something very special to get me out of there.”

 

So now to GSP, and if early whispers are to be confirmed, the opportunity for Hardy to study the Canadian up close. “I’d fight him in Canada, Las Vegas, England, on the moon, or in the car park,” said Hardy. “I want that belt.”

Payout Perspective:

MMAPayout.com can confirm that the St-Pierre camp has not been approached by the UFC to do the show.

However, looking a little more deeply into the matter, it does make sense on some levels:

• Gives Hardy some exposure
• Allows Hardy a chance to talk enough trash to build the fight in the mind of the casual fan
• Further boosts British MMA by having another fighter on the show
• Provides the TUF series with a star in GSP to help follow-up the massive ratings success of TUF 10

The major disadvantage of using GSP and Hardy is that it would take the welterweight belt out of the PPV rotation until at least June. The UFC is really hard up for headliners with this recent string of injuries, and they’re going to need a full roster in order to maintain the growth rate they’ve experienced over the last few years.

Moreoever, GSP is a major draw for the organization, and he could probably fight twice in a six month period; which is certainly bound to draw more in aggregate than the single event (even with it being hyped by an entire season of TUF).