(At least he’s got a sense of humor. That’s the second best thing to have in a fight with GSP. The first? Excellent takedown defense.)

At this point, we have to assume that Dan Hardy knows he won’t be the fan favorite heading into his title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111. As a 5-1 underdog, he won’t be the betting favorite either, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still have a little fun. The problem is, there’s really not that much trash you can talk to GSP. Not only are there very few evident weaknesses in his game, but as a person he’s almost painfully non-offensive (unless you happen to be B.J. Penn). So what does Hardy do? He goes after the people who say he hasn’t earned his shot at the champ. Fortunately for him, there is no shortage of them.

On his blog at ThisIsNottingham.co.uk, Hardy took aim at his critics and held absolutely nothing back.

On Mike Swick: “It’s funny Swick is now moaning that I didn’t deserve this shot. Swick should have kept his mind off me and on his last opponent, Paulo Thiago, and maybe he wouldn’t have been beaten again.”

On Nate Marquardt: “Nate Marquardt is another guy who has been vocal that I am getting some sort of preferential treatment from the UFC. He’s a middleweight, so I can’t see how this concerns him. But all I can say is if I don’t curl up into a ball and get blasted in one round, I’ll do better than he did in his title shot against Anderson Silva.”

On Josh Koscheck: “British fans will know Koscheck as the Fraggle-haired guy who got sparked out in one round in London a year ago, only to take his loss out on an innocent chair backstage, scoring a split decision points win over the unsuspecting piece of furniture. If you’ve forgotten that fight (and if you blinked, you’d have missed it) you’ll see something very similar in May when Paul Daley knocks him out.”

On AKA in general: “Koscheck says I have beaten nobodies but my latest win was over his supposed friend and team-mate in Swick. How loyal. That’s why Jon Fitch isn’t improving, why Koscheck has so many one-sided losses on his record and why Swick will never fight for a title. They aren’t really a team, they don’t have each others’ best interests at heart and clearly there’s a lack of respect in that gym.”

Yep, that just about covers everyone. As much as we love a little smack talk, even if it’s not directed at the guy you’re actually fighting, we’re not sure getting into with AKA is a great idea. Whether you think they’re a team or not, they will force you to fight every single one of their welterweights before they leave you alone. Even if you come away up 2-1 like Paulo Thiago, it’s just exhausting, not to mention time-consuming.