Dan Hardy: No shortage of 2025 PFL fighters who could hang in UFC right now

Dan Hardy is confident many of the PFL’s top stars would succeed in the UFC.

The PFL analyst specifically referred to Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov’s (19-0) successful title defense against Paul Hughes (13-2) in the main event of PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series in January, which turned out to be one of the more exciting and competitive fights of the year so far.

Hardy also likes undefeated Bellator champion Johnny Eblen’s (16-0) chances against any UFC middleweight.

“The UFC is such a strong brand and they really do dominate the sport,” Hardy told MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s easy for fans to look outside of the UFC and go, ‘These fighters aren’t good enough, otherwise they would be in the UFC.’ We all know that’s the case. We’ve got the likes of Paul Hughes now signed up and had a fantastic bout against Usman Nurmagomedov. Both of those fighters, for my money, could compete in the UFC at a similar level, and I would say the same for many of the champions – both across PFL and Bellator.

“Johnny Eblen, for me, could really cause problems for any middleweight in the world. It doesn’t matter what promotion they’re in. It’s nice sometimes to be able to see those fighters like Kayla Harrison, who obviously dominated to a point in the PFL, then go over and have the same impact elsewhere. I think we could have a lot more of that success if there was more cross promotion. But, of course, that’s why we don’t get the cross-promotion fights. It was a risk when they were doing it with Pride, as well, because sometimes it didn’t work out well for them.”

PFL welterweights and featherweights will kick off their season Thursday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. PFL 2025, Week 1 is headlined by a 170-pound bout between Jason Jackson (18-5) and Andrey Koreshkov. Also featured on the main card is a matchup between Logan Storley (16-3) and Magomed Umalatov (17-1).

Hardy spoke of the depth of talent in the tournament.

“The reality is, these fighters in this world tournament are world-class, competitive with any(one) – especially the lightweights and the welterweights,” Hardy said. “They are incredibly deep brackets that we’ve got in these (tournaments), and I think we’re going to see those level of fights come April.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2025, Week 1.