Why was Dan Hardy absent from wife Veronica Macedo's UFC 286 events? Fighter-analyst explains ban
Former UFC fighter and analyst Dan Hardy was fired from the promotion in 2021 over an alleged altercation with another employee. While no further details of the incident have since come to light, Hardy has since been publicly feuding with UFC president Dana White.
Hardy recently revealed that he was banned from all fight week activities leading up to his wife Veronica Macedo's UFC 286 clash against Juliana Miller. 'The Outlaw' compared his own situation to Colby Covington's recent death threats to Jon Anik.
According to Hardy, 'Chaos' is unlikely to be penalized in any way as both he and Anik are public figures. The former UFC welterweight recently told Petesy Carroll:
"I think the reason [Covington will] get away with it, of course, is cause Anik is another public figure. You know, like we had the bit of a back and forth between Gaethje and Bisping. And I think as long as both people in the organization are public facing figures, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem in Dana’s eyes."
He added:
"But I mean, I had a very, very minor disagreement with a member of staff and I was banned from all fight week activities last week. So you know, it’s a case-by-case basis… I went to the official weigh-ins, that was the only thing I went to. But everything else I was banned from."
Catch Dan Hardy's comments below:
"It’s very much Putin’s Russia in there" - Dan Hardy details his experience at UFC 286
Dan Hardy had expected a lot of friction from the promotion in the lead up to his wife's UFC 286 clash against Juliana Miller. However, 'The Outlaw' had a relatively smooth sailing week by simply staying out of the way.
Congratulations to Veronica Macedo on her victory at UFC 286! 
🎉💪 Congratulations to Veronica Macedo on her victory at UFC 286!
#MMA #MetaFight #UFC286 #UFC https://t.co/oCLb8tl0lq
However, Hardy, who has openly criticized White's Power Slap League, did not miss the opportunity to discuss the same during the aforementioned interview. 'The Outlaw' likened the experience to Vladimir Putin's Russia, where most people felt unable to voice their thoughts despite being staunch critics of Power Slap. Dan Hardy further told Petesy Carroll (25:18):
"I teased a lot of them about Powerslap and got the same reaction from all of them. It’s depressing to be around it honest. The majority of the people within the organization can’t stand it either, but they don’t feel like they have a choice. It’s very much [Vladamir] Putin’s Russia in there right now, in the UFC right now. It’s just depressing to see all these people that are normally really enthusiastic about mixed-martial-arts carry the weight of this ridiculous circus Powerslap on the side.”