Was This the Worst UFC Debut Ever? Greg Hardy Was Disqualified in the Second Round of His UFC Debut Against Allen Crowder, After Landing a Blatant Illegal Knee, ‘The Prince of War’ Was Disqualified…
First of all, what was the UFC thinking when they put Greg Hardy in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 143? This was a high-profile card, as it was the UFC’s debut on ESPN+. The promotion had faced a lot of criticism for putting Hardy – who was involved in a very messy domestic abuse case – on the same card as abuse survivor Rachel Ostovich.
When it comes down to cold, hard business, you can perhaps see the logic. Hardy has a following and controversy often leads to people tuning in. However, with only three previous professional fights, what was he doing in a co-main event? Sure, he has devastating knockout power, but isn’t it better to build his profile slowly, instead of just dumping pressure on him?
When you’ve got a personality as volatile as Hardy’s, you can expect something controversial to happen. And it did. Watch the footage below of him getting disqualified for a disgraceful illegal knee against his cherry-picked opponent Allen Crowder.
https://twitter.com/barstooltweetss/status/1086854410171498496
Shambles
This was an absolute shambles from beginning to end. Hardy isn’t the first footballer to transition to MMA, but his inexperience was evident the whole way through this fight. He only started training in 2016 and demonstrated his naivety by charging out of the blocks and trying to KO Crowder with raw power.
Crowder refused to touch gloves with Hardy and had the crowd on his side the whole way through this one. He managed to avoid taking significant damage from the former footballer’s early onslaught and then took the fight to the ground. This is where Hardy looked like a fish out of the water and definitely lost the round.
Crowder talking to Hardy in the Octagon, then lands a flurry of punches on him! Wow! #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/Iaoq01D96X
— UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2019
DQ
The disqualification came in the second round. Hardy had been instructed to be more patient and slow down. In fairness, he appeared to listen and did better in the early stages. However, Crowder got a second wind and started trash-talking his controversial opponent, before unleashing a barrage of punches. Then he went for the takedown.
Hardy was able to sprawl and shut it down. Crowder remained on his knees, and that’s when the key moment of this fight went down. Right in front of referee Dan Miragliotta, Hardy decided to blatantly knee ‘Pretty Boy’ in the side of the head.
Welp, Greg Hardy leaves the octagon to a course of boos after being DQ’d for an illegal strike in his UFC debut #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/G8PLUVkbiF
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 20, 2019
Ridiculous
Miragliotta made it clear that if the downed Crowder was unable to continue, then Hardy would be disqualified. The referee was visibly livid with the former footballer. After the doctors examined Crowder, that was the decision that was eventually taken and Hardy lost his UFC debut via DQ.
Considering the risk that the UFC had taken by putting him right in the spotlight like that, this was a horrific beginning for Hardy. Not only that, but he didn’t even look particularly good up until that point. The first 30 seconds were terrifying because he does possess raw power, but his game is very limited at this point.
Meanwhile, Crowder improves to 10-3, with five wins in his last six fights. This was a big win for the South Carolina fighter, as he upset the odds big time.
