UFC 137: Is GSP Training with Dan Hardy to Become a More Aggressive Fighter?

Recently Georges “Rush” St-Pierre let the whole world know through Twitter that he was bringing Dan Hardy, a man he has beat, in to help him train for his upcoming fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 137.

Dan Hardy, a fighter who is on a four-fight losing streak, has not only lost to GSP but to Condit as well. So one must beg the question, "Why in the world is GSP bringing Hardy in to his fight camp?"

St-Pierre is a fighter who is constantly evolving. He’s always looking for anyone who can teach him something new.

However, with his last four fights all going to decision, many people have been questioning GSP’s ability to finish fights.

Hardy is a fighter known for an aggressive, in your face, head-hunting style (although he hasn’t knocked out anyone in his past six fights). It’s a fighting style many fans wish GSP displayed.

So is GSP bringing in Hardy to help him get his killer instinct back? No. No he isn’t.

GSP is doing it because it affords him a great opportunity to train with a man who has fought both Condit and himself, and to get inside of Condit’s head.

Mostly, it’s to get inside of Condit’s head.

GSP is a smart fighter, and while he’d like to go out and finish every fight with a knockout, he’d still rather come away with the win.

Sure, Hardy might be able to give him some valuable bits of information, but GSP’s main goal here is to make Condit question his own fight plan.

Rush wants Condit to come into the fight asking himself if what he normally does will work. It’s genius.

A big part of this sport is a fighters mental stability going into the fight. Any fighter will tell you that they get nervous before a fight, but going in questioning your training is a big deal.

“Rampage” Jackson attributed his loss to Jones at UFC 135 with not following through on his game plan, and doubting his pre-fight training.

Condit had originally been training to fight B.J. Penn before things got switched around and he was given his shot at the title.

Now GSP has thrown another wrench in Condit’s gears by giving him yet another thing to question in his fight preparedness.

So as much as we may want GSP to be teaming up with Hardy because he’s looking to put Condit to sleep, he’s not. He’s simply doing what he’s always done, and that's fighting smart.

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/870265-ufc-137-is-gsp-training-with-dan-hardy-to-become-a-more-aggressive-fighter

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