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Heather 'Heat' Hardy is the undefeated WBO world featherweight champion in boxing, but has revealed she may quit the sport to pursue MMA full-time with Bellator due to frustrating politics outside of the ring.

The 22-0 boxing champ is 2-1 with Bellator, and fights Taylor Turner next weekend at Madison Square Garden as part of Bellator 222.

And in an exclusive chat with Mirror Sport, Hardy admitted that she will have to consider giving up one of her sports to make a true run for glory in either.

"The politics of boxing have really turned me off lately," she admitted. "At this age, I'm 37 years-old, it's a matter of doing things with intergrity, doing things that make you feel good at the end of the day.

"Money is a driving factor, I've got a daughter whose got college coming up in a few years and that's important, and there are some boxing fights that I could make good money from, but I want to be doing things that make me feel good.

"The difference between boxing and MMA is that in boxing you kind of walk into the fight knowing that politics are going to prevent you from getting that win anyway, whereas, in MMA you know you're getting a fair shot.

"You very rarely see an MMA fight go to the judges and people are going crazy afterwards because 'someone was robbed', and you'd rarely even see a fight where you're certain who's going to win.

"In boxing, everything is politics, they decide who's going to win before they even have the opponent and the thing is, I'm a safe opponent for these girls on the way up.

"They know I'm not a knockout artist, I'm a grinder, it's going to go to a decision and they can give the win to whoever they want."

(Image: Bellator MMA)

And her current plan of interchanging between sports appears to have run it's course, with 'Heat' adding: "The truth is, I'll never be able to get too far ahead switching back and forth.

"I can't jump off this MMA fight into a fight with someone like Katie Taylor, it's going to take months to prepare.

"After this fight I'll have to figure out which route I'm going to go, because to commit to Bellator, that's me saying I want a step up in opponents.

"That's how it works in boxing as well, I'm not saying my next fight should be a title fight but I want to prove myself.

"[In MMA], I'm way down the rankings, I haven't fought in 16 months so I'm not sure that I'd even be ranked but I want to move up."

And she admits that she is currently leaning towards choosing MMA, adding: "I'm having tonnes of fun and I'm getting pretty good.

"I'll be honest, I was sparring on Wednesday, my last hard sparring session and I did three five minute rounds with a new partner every round, jiu-jitsu girls.

(Image: Bellator MMA)

"And Chris Weidman called up my coach and said to him 'look, if this girl can stay long with us, she's going to be f***ing good', and I believe that. I could be really good at this."

However, the competition at the top in Mixed Martial Arts is tough for somebody who started fighting in 2017.

In Bellator, Hardy's 125-pound division is currently ruled by the 10-0 Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, while in the UFC 16-3 Valentina Shevchenko rules the roost.

"Ilima-Lei has the title and you've got to stay in your lane and know who you are, I'd never be able to fight her, I don't have that kind of experience,

"I've had a handful of MMA fights and in between them was a world title fight in boxing, so I need to crack down and talk to my team.

"But I mean when I say, if I'm going to commit to Bellator and they're going to commit to me, I want to step up opponents every time I get in the cage and see who I can beat and how far I can make it."

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