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Up-and-coming welterweight Dan Hardy has told Eurosport-Yahoo! he hopes the UFC plan to market his enormous potential this side of the Atlantic - as the organisation are doing with fellow UK star Michael Bisping.

Hardy is currently working on his jiu-jitsu with Xtreme Couture in the US following his impressive decision victory against the elusive Akihiro Gono in his UFC debut in London in October.

It was the first in a four-fight deal with the UFC for the Nottingham-born-and-raised 27-year-old following his signing with the organisation in May, having fought the majority of his career for the Cage Warriors fight promotion in Japan.

He entered the UFC in one of its most crowded divisions, but Hardy says he is confident that he can work his way through the contenders and prove a marketable commodity for the organisation as they continue to build the popularity of the sport in Europe.

"I asked for a tough first fight, and got one," Hardy told us. "I think the UFC realised although I was new to them, I was capable of dealing with top-ranked fighters and so they sort of threw me in at the deep end.

"I'd like to think they had a plan for me. I think the UFC realise my potential, but at the end of the day I have to get in there and win the fights. And they are all tough fights in the UFC as all the best fighters in the world are here.

"Either way, if there is a plan to market me like Bisping or if there isn't, then that's fine with me. My job is still the same; to go out there and beat people up. I don't think that it means there will be any extra pressure on me; no more than I put on myself anyway."

Hardy says he is in no rush as he bids to make his name in the UFC, saying he is already ahead of the schedule he set himself at the start of his MMA career.

"I am just going to pick guys off, one at a time," he continued. "I'm not here to make up the numbers. At some point I want to be in title contention; how long that takes, I don't mind.

"My first plan was to be in the UFC by the time I was 28-years-old, and I am over a year ahead of time with that. I want to enjoy my wins, take the time to work on the technical side of my game.

"Career-wise, I think it is good to space things out, to make sure you get enough rest between fights. I have always been an active fighter, sometimes taking fights as little as two weeks apart. But now I am at the UFC, the stakes are higher and I need to slow it down and be a bit more serious.

"Ideally, I would want to be fighting three or four times a year, and I have to make sure I peak at the right time for those fights."

Hardy told us he already knows the name and date of his next fight, although he cannot reveal details until the contracts have been signed and sealed. It is expected that 'The Outlaw' will feature on the recently announced UFC 95 bill at London's O2 Arena on February 21.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport