Dan Hardy agrees with the notion that UFC CEO Dana White mentally has checked out of MMA.
White's involvement with Zuffa Boxing and Power Slap has many thinking that he's not as motivated as he once was about the UFC. White recently confused the resumes of UFC 332 headliners Natalia Silva and Wang Cong, who compete for the vacant flyweight title Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Former UFC analyst and commentator Hardy believes the UFC's growth and popularity has given White less work on the promotional side.
"I'm thankful that I got that version of Dana because he was a fan just like everybody else," Hardy told Submission Radio. "But he was driven to make it successful because he had gone out on a limb with some money that his friends
had backed him with, and he believed in the product. It was a difficult thing to push because of the time. Imagine him trying to launch Power Slap at the same time. It just wouldn't have happened. The struggle against UFC was very real, and that's part of what drove him.
"I think now it's become almost too easy, hasn't it really? The promoting side of the UFC, you don't even have to really announce a card before the tickets are almost gone in some instances. I don't know whether he's lost a bit of the hunger for that because the promoting is not necessarily that difficult anymore. I don't know whether maybe that's where his attention has gone over into Power Slap or boxing or whatever. I think he likes a challenge, and I don't necessarily think MMA is a challenge for him. He's kind of conquered it, didn't he?"
While White has no intentions of stepping away as UFC CEO, Hunter Campbell's name pops up as a potential successor. However, Hardy sees another potentially surprsing option in UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey.
"I still think we need some more promotion," Hardy said. "I just maybe think we need a fresh voice. I think maybe Dana's time in mixed martial arts has passed. Maybe if he crosses over to boxing now and lets somebody else take his place. I don't know if it's Hunter, though. I've not really spoken to him much. I was kind of getting the vibe that Ronda (Rousey) was going to be gunning for the UFC face job at some point in the future. We'll see how that plays out. I could see Ronda going for it."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Analyst could see Ronda Rousey being Dana White's successor as 'UFC face job'
