Ariel Helwani Blasts UFC’s Decision To Book Greg Hardy Alongside Rachael Ostovich
This weekend’s (Sat., January 19, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 1 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, is unique in the fact that it is the UFC’s debut on sports network ESPN. However, it’s also unique in that it involves the curious cases of both Greg Hardy and Rachael Ostovich.
Women’s flyweight Ostovich will take on Paige VanZant at the event, but an outside-the-cage incident has been dominating headlines involving her. Ostovich was recently assaulted in a domestic violence attack allegedly carried out by her husband, MMA fighter Arnold Berdon. The attack left her with a broken orbital bone and seemingly forced her out of the VanZant match-up. She was allowed to fight upon a second opinion from her doctor.
That was good news, but the situation was only furthered when it was announced that rising heavyweight Greg Hardy would fight at UFC on ESPN+ 1 as well. Former NFL star Hardy was involved in a brutal domestic violence incident of his own in 2014. While he was never fully convicted due to his alleged victim failing to show up, he was suspended from football. He’s since made the transition to MMA and has torn a path through a slew of lesser heavyweight fighters.
The decision to book Hardy at UFC on ESPN+ 1 where Ostovich was competing was viewed as a callous, non-thinking decision by many members of the MMA media. Ostovich stated Hardy had nothing to do with her and she believed in second chances. Dana White grew incensed at questions about it, claiming he had consulted Ostovich about having Hardy on the same card. Regardless, Hardy will fight in Brooklyn this weekend, and the topic is still being discussed.
Helwani’s Take
Such was the case on today’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” where noted MMA journalist Ariel Helwani offered his view of the messy situation. Helwani first broke down the dynamics of the controversy:
“It was a very controversial decision when it was announced. Initially, Rachael Ostovich was on the card. And then she had her incident with her husband, and he’s due to stand trial in February. And at the time, when this news came out in November, most of us thought she would remove herself from the card, and that was the plan as far as the UFC was concerned.
“However, she spoke to Dana White and said, ‘No, I must be on this card. I want to remain on the card,
“However, a month later, they announced that Greg Hardy was going to be removed from the regional fight that he was set to compete on in December and he would be making his UFC debut on the same card as Rachael Ostovich, which just so happens to be the debut of the UFC on ESPN.”
Hasn’t Earned The Fight?
Helwani then offered his thoughts on the matter, noting that he thought the UFC could have easily put Hardy on any one of of its 42 other cards throughout the year. Besides that, Helwani didn’t believe a 3-0 fighter who hadn’t even made it to a second round was deserving of a spot on such a card:
“I found this decision to be incredibly tone-deaf, to put it mildly. There are 43 cards scheduled for 2019. I didn’t understand why Greg Hardy had to be on A) the ESPN debut card, and B) the same card as Rachael Ostovich. I didn’t think it was fair to Rachael Ostovich. And I think it’s important to note that ESPN didn’t have a say in all of this. UFC makes the cards, they have the final say on it all.
“And I didn’t think that Greg Hardy, considering the fact that he’s just 3-0, that he’s never made it past the first minute of any of his professional fights, that he’s only been doing this essentially for a year-and-a-half. I didn’t think he earned the right to be on this historic card.”
Many share the same sentiment about Hardy, but he will fight on UFC on ESPN+ 1 nonetheless. Ostovich seems to be willing to separate herself from Hardy as she works through her own issues, but the story won’t die in the media.
As long as the UFC continues to make decisions like this for the sake of profit that may or may not even be there, the same type of backlash will ensue. Booking Hardy in a co-main event spot on one of the biggest cards of 2019 is probably one of those decisions.
