Greg Hardy Admits He Got ‘Humbled’ By Failed UFC Debut
Greg Hardy admits that he was humbled by the way his UFC debut turned out.
The former NFL star will step back in the Octagon for his second UFC fight against Dmitrii Smoliakov. This heavyweight showdown will serve as the co-headliner of this weekend’s UFC Fort Lauderdale event.
Hardy’s promotional debut ended in controversy when he blasted Allen Crowder with an illegal knee to the head at January’s UFC on ESPN+ 1. In the second round, referee Dan Miragliotta called it immediately after Crowder went down from the illegal knee to end the fight.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Hardy opened up on the backlash of the fight and how it humbled him due to the cocky nature of his fighting style.
“It’s very true, man,” Hardy admitted. “It helps you look more. I wasn’t looking for my flaws when I was winning. Like, I couldn’t see them, I didn’t want to see them. And since I got the loss, I’m a little more humble than I was, which is always a good thing. And you start looking and you start seeing the things where you really messed up. …
“I’ve had a lot of years of football so I’ve been in control of power for a very long time. Even though you can hit a quarterback, it’s not always in your best interest. Sometimes [being penalized] 15 yards will f*ck your team more than a hit. And it’s just those kind of decisions I’m finding, just because I can knock someone out doesn’t mean I should go for it.”
Energy Dump
Hardy mentioned that power is a drug. In MMA that’s dangerous, as it will gas you out. He felt he wanted to get the finish so bad that he got tired quickly.
“You’ve got to control these things because there are no timeouts, there are no breaks. You’re in a cage, nobody can save you, man, and you’ve got to make these decisions. That’s the kind of things I’m finding out, and you’ve got to have a humble mind for that because power’s a drug, man. Power is a drug. In this sport, it’s dangerous. It’ll gas you. You saw me. I was bloodthirsty. The man said he was going to kill me — I wanted to separate him from his consciousness so bad that I energy-dumped everything after I told myself not to energy dump. And you’ve just gotta deal with those kind of things because you’ve got to be honest. Like honestly, it’s not, ‘Oh, I made a mistake.’ I was cocky. Gotta humble myself.”
UFC Fort Lauderdale is set to take place on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The main card will air on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET. The preliminary card will be split broadcasted on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET and ESPN 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
