“Dan Hardy definitely deserves his title shot in Newark. I said in a few interviews he didn’t but – I want to clear the air – when I said that I was still upset I’d got beat by him at UFC 105. I made that mistake of talking when I was feeling emotional, when I was feeling down and was disappointed in my performance. But it wasn’t my true opinion; at least not one I’d actually thought about,” Swick revealed today.

“I’m a little embarrassed I said that, and want to say publicly Hardy deserves his shot and has a good chance of winning. He’s a top fighter. I said on my Twitter I hope Dan does well and good luck to him, that he deserves shot. But obviously no-one picked up on that while the other stuff I said before was everywhere.”

“Has Hardy has a fast route to the title? Yes, but he’s taken chances and accepted tough fights when offered to him. It’s true: if I had won that fight no-one would be saying I didn’t earn it. And do I wish I’d have gotten a faster route to a number one contender fight? Of course! You wouldn’t be hearing me complain, or any other welterweight complain, about getting a quicker route to a number one contender fight. He stepped up to fight me and won.

“Overall, GSP has the better chances to win, of course, but Hardy is getting better and better and, honestly, I am more excited to see this GSP fight v Hardy than pretty much anyone else you could put GSP in with. I am super excited about the fight; I can’t wait to see what happens as a MMA fan. Dan can definitely win this if he takes his chances with his strikes,” he said.

( Swick speaks to mmafighting.com )