UFC boss White says Dan Hardy will be seeking second opinion on heart condition

UFC President Dana White is holding out hope that Dan Hardy might have one more option left on the table.

The UFC welterweight recently was pulled from a fight against Matt Brown on the UFC on FOX 7 card, which takes place next week at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., due to a heart condition known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

Hardy (25-10 MMA, 6-4 UFC) essentially had a pair of options: He could have heart surgery to correct the ailment or, very likely, retire from fighting, given that the difficulty in getting licensed would be greatly increased with the condition.

But on Tuesday, White said he and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have been in contact with Hardy, and that the fighter soon will be getting another opinion.

“Lorenzo and I called him last week,” White said during a media call in support of UFC on FOX 7. “He’s got some personal stuff going on right now with his family. But we’re going to send him to the best heart surgeon in the country out in Los Angeles when he’s ready. We’re going to get him a second opinion and get him checked out.”

The UFC pulled Hardy from UFC on FOX 7 when an electrocardiography (EKG) exam revealed markers of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a rare heart disorder that sends extra electricity through the heart upon its second beat. In mild cases, it causes a rapid heart beat and heart palpitations, but in extreme cases can cause cardiac arrest.

Hardy maintains he hasn’t suffered any symptoms of the syndrome.

Though the California State Athletic Commission did not deny Hardy a license for the fight – the UFC pulled him from the card prior to that process – Executive Officer Andy Foster said the commission wouldn’t automatically deny him if he applied in the future.

“We’ll look at his medicals, and if he passes with our doctors, we’ll issue him a license,” Foster recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Hardy’s manager, Wad Alameddine, on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com he, too, is hopeful that another opinion for Hardy could yield different results.

“I’m pleased he’s had this conversation with Dana and Lorenzo, and a second opinion is definitely something we talked about – or even a third opinion, depending on how the second one goes,” Alameddine said. “But what’s been really positive for me is the number of fans (that have shown their support). A cardiologist was reading about Dan in USA TODAY and got in touch and said if there was anything he could do to help, they had the best specialists.

“It’s been really good to see how much people care about Dan. We’re not rushing into anything at the moment. We’re just seeing what happens, what other facts we can gather, and it looks like he’s done what he wanted to do in getting a second opinion.”

If Hardy gets that second opinion, or third, and it comes back the same, he already knows he may be out of luck if he wants to fight again in the UFC.

“I would expect the UFC to say that the surgery is required in order for me to continue fighting for them,” he recently told MMAjunkie.com. But surgery for him appears to be off the table.

“I’ve been in the trenches, and I’ve never had any problems,” he said. “I don’t see any reason why [the UFC] wouldn’t use me, but obviously, the decision is out of my hands.”

So he likely will be hoping for a positive result when he does get that second opinion.

For more on UFC on FOX 7, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.