UFC removes Hardy's tattoo...

UFC 111's Dan Hardy says "visual stimulus" to blame for poster's tattoo removal

Take a look at a recent UFC 111 event poster. See anything missing?

Dan Hardy (23-6-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), one half of the pay-per-view event's main draw, is missing the tattoos sprawled across his stomach. His trademark red Mohawk is gone. By contrast, his opponent, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, retains a lone Chinese character tattoo on his chest.

Did "The Outlaw" get censored?

"I don't know," Hardy told MMAjunkie Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) today. "I'm not sure, to be honest."

Hardy, who's tapering down his UFC 111 fight camp in New Jersey, was told the removal was out of concern for the poster's aesthetic.

"It was something to do with too much visual stimulus on the poster because obviously, the tattoo's quite prominent and it kind of draws the eye away from the important information about the fight, the show," said Hardy, who meets UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. "That was the information that I got."

The British welterweight has taken the division by storm since his October 2008 debut at UFC 89 with four straight octagon victories, which include a decision win over Mike Swick in his most recent performance at UFC 105 this past November.

He's not upset over the apparent airbrush job. He's got the title shot, and that's what counts.

"It doesn't really matter to me," Hardy said. "Obviously, it would have been nice to have the tattoo on there, but at the end of the day, you can see my face, and that's the important thing."

"If they'd airbrushed my face off, I'd be a bit more concerned."