According to Fighters Only Magazine, U.K. welterweight Dan Hardy has signed a four fight contract with the UFC. The report says that the UFC intends to make Hardy “as big as Michael Bisping,” but no official announcement of the signing has been made yet.

Also according the report, Hardy was close to signing a deal with EliteXC but the negotiations with the UFC continued and Hardy ended up signing with them. He is expected to make his debut sometime this fall.

Hardy owns a 19-6 record and is one of the most popular and exciting fighters in the U.K. so it should be no surprise, with UFC moving into those markets, that Hardy is now a part of the promotion. Check out a nice highlight reel of Hardy after the jump.

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