Rumored Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson Bout Expected for UFC Fight Night 24

Dan Hardy

A heavily rumored welterweight showdown between Dan Hardy and Anthony Johnson has been verbally agreed to for UFC Fight Night 24.

The bout was first reported by URDirt.com, but had initially been expected for UFC 129 in Toronto. MMAWeekly.com sources say that the bout is still agreed upon, although unsigned, but targeted for the March 26 fight card in Seattle.

Hardy (23-8) returns with a focus to get back to the form that saw him get a UFC title shot earlier in the year in 2010. Following his championship loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 111, Hardy returned in October and was promptly knocked out by Carlos Condit.

The Brit will attempt the get back to his winning ways in March against Johnson.

For his part, Anthony Johnson (8-3) returns to action after more than a year away from the sport. Johnson was dealing with knee injuries that sidelined him for all of 2010.

Discussions took place for him to possibly return in the middleweight division, but those plans appear to have been shelved.

Over his UFC career, Johnson has gone 5-3 and shown tremendous knockout power in many of his fights.

A light heavyweight battle between Top 10 ranked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz is expected to headline UFC Fight Night 24.

(Additional reporting by Damon Martin)