Warrior Promotions Fighter Management (WPFM) are pleased to announce the top UK Welterweight star Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy (21-6-0-1mc) will be making his third appearance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 13th, when he faces the American Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis (16-4-0) at UFC 99: Franklin vs. Silva, which will be held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

The rising UK star will travel to Germany, after a spectacular first round KO victory over Rory Markham last month at the O2 Arena in London, where Hardy finished the fight in 69 seconds after flooring his American opponent a perfect counter punch to the temple and following it up with a ground strike which forced the Referee to end the bout early in the first round.

That stunning victory saw Hardy go 2-0 in UFC competition (after he defeated the 8 time Pride FC veteran Akihiro Gono in his UFC debut last year) but it also saw him extend a fine run of form which has seen the Nottingham fighter win 10 of his last 11 bouts, with only a controversial DQ loss to Yoshiyuki Yoshida spoiling his run of form since September 2006.   Included in this win streak are the likes of the former King of Pancrase; Daizo Ishige, the K-1 Hero's veteran; Hidetaka Monma and the two time UFC veteran; Chad Reiner.

However Hardy faces possibly his sternest UFC test to-date when he takes on the heavy hitting former Boxer Marcus Davis inside the Octagon on June 13th in Germany.  Davis originally racked-up a professional Boxing record of 17-1-2 in his native New England, before switching to MMA and training at the Miletich Fighting Systems gym.

Marcus Davis made his professional MMA  debut in August 2003, but it wasn't until he found himself as a contestant on the UFC's “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show in 2005 did his career rally start to take shape.  Although Davis was heavily promoted as having boxing skills, he found himself eliminated early on in the show after choosing Joe Stevenson in episode four of the series and was quickly submitted by the eventual winner..  Although he was bought back as cover later on in the series he was not used and had to settle on an undercard spot for the season 2 finale where he lost to the colourful striker Melvin Guillard via a cut stoppage.

Davis then found himself back on the indie circuit but 4 quick wins soon followed and he found himself back in the UFC on the Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter show, where he defeated Forrest Petz by guillotine towards the end of the first round.  Davis then went on a fantastic run of form where he picked-up UFC wins against the likes of Shonie Carter, Pete Spratt, Jason Tan, Paul Taylor and Jess Liaudin before dropping a decision to TUF 1 veteran Mike Swick.  However Davis quickly rebounded with wins over Paul Kelly in October last year and a spilt decision victory over the experienced Chris Lytle at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.

With an impressive 13 wins out of his last 14 bouts (and a UFC record of  8-2) Davis is a very dangerous prospect for “The Outlaw” to face and with both men known for their stand-up skills this bout promises to deliver some fireworks inside the Octagon.  Already both men have found themselves in an escalating war of words over the internet with Hardy questioning Davis' alleged Irish heritage.  Whilst the “Irish Hand Grenade” has retaliated on several occasions trying to taunt “The Outlaw” into keeping the fight standing, as he believes the Englishman will not be able to stand and trade strikes with him.  With just under three months to go, this bout already has all the makings of a memorable UFC encounter which will only gain momentum in the following months.

For more information on UFC 99 go to the UFC website at http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail.fightCard&eid=2008

Whilst for all the latest updates on Dan Hardy go to www.danhardymma.com and www.cagewarriors.com

And follow “The Outlaw” on Twitter by going to http://twitter.com/danhardymma

And if you wish to follow “The Outlaw” to Germany for UFC 99, join the “Party Hardy” Coach trip from London.  Go to http://www.cagewarriors.com/article.244.htm for the details on this fantastic offer by Dan's management team.