UFC on Versus 5: Chris Lytle Will Give Dan Hardy the Fight He Deserves

Kevin Burns and Chris Lytle go toe-to-toe at the TUF 9 finale

This Sunday night, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (30-18-5) will make his twentieth appearance in the Octagon when he meets Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy (23-9) in the main event for UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee.

Since Lytle’s UFC debut in 2000 at UFC 28, the Indianapolis native has had mixed success in facing some of the sport’s finest athletes.  However, it is his fighting spirit, matched with his crowd-pleasing style and determination that has captivated UFC audiences for over a decade.

With Lytle’s exciting style of brawling and his British counterpart’s style of striking, it’s no secret that this fight has all the potential to be the fight of the night.  The UFC quickly recognized the potential for excitement, and decided that this fight would be best suited as the main event.

“That’s about as big a compliment as they can give me,” Lytle told MMAWeekly Radio.

“They appreciate the way I’ve been fighting, they appreciate my style and what I’ve been doing.  You know they’re going to trust that the last fight on the card that people want to see it.  That tells me that they know that people like the way I fight, they appreciate it and I’m honored to be in that spot.”

The Indianapolis native has spoken with his UFC on Versus 5 opponent previously and, while the two will fight hard against one another, each has a great mutual respect for the other.

“When he told me he wanted to fight me, he was very respectful about everything.  I understand it’s not necessary for him to go out and make a big statement about this.  From what I understand he wants to fight, he wants a good kind of fight, and fight the right kind of way.  He thinks I’m going to give it to him and I’m going to.”

Lytle recalled Hardy being frustrated in his last defeat because he could not get out from underneath Anthony Johnson and felt sympathetic to his British opponent.  The veteran has felt that same kind of difficulty in his career and has promised Hardy that he will get a chance to stand and trade.

“The impression that I get from the way he talks is that he didn’t like his last fight because he didn’t really get to fight, he got held down, and he just really wanted to put on a good show.  He wanted to throw down and it didn’t happen, so he was disappointed with that.

“I’ve been there, I know that frustration.  I feel like if I do my job, I’ll give him the fight that he deserves and that’s what I plan on doing.  So I feel pretty confident he’ll just let it all out there and fight.”

Follow Andrew Gladstone at @gladstone1 on Twitter.
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