Greg Hardy ‘Devastated’ By Performance At UFC Moscow

Heavyweight prospect Greg Hardy is taking his loss to Alexander Volkov harder than most would expect.

Hardy stepped in on short notice to face Volkov in the co-main event of UFC Moscow on Saturday. It was a huge step up in competition and while the former NFL star went on to lose via unanimous decision, he wasn’t really dominated like most expected.

He also hurt his hand early on in the fight, taking away his main weapon. But despite all that, he isn’t offering any excuses as he felt he could have done better on the night:

“Not a single one [excuse],” he told ESPN after the fight (via MMA Junkie). “No excuses. … I fought a great opponent, and (I’m) clearly devastated by the decision. I didn’t fight well enough, plain and simple. That’s the hardest thing to tell yourself after you go to war. I didn’t earn it today.

“I’m going to have to check out the film, see what I did wrong, analyze it professionally. But right now, the only thing that matters is the ‘W,’ and I didn’t leave with the ‘W,’ so that means there’s work to be done. I didn’t do exactly what I said I was going to do, and that makes me feel very bad.”

Despite his disappointment, Hardy still hopes to eventually reach his high expectations. The first step in achieving that is returning to the Octagon better than ever after this experience:

“I don’t think the bar is too high. I think it’s there,” he added. “The bar where I want to get to is astronomically high. It’s so far away from me now, I’m in tears on the inside, man.

“I have a lot to go and get, man, and I’m going to go and get it. I’m going to bleed, and I’m going to sweat until it’s done, and when I come back I will be the ‘King of War’. But right now, I’m humbly bowing down as the ‘Prince of War’ in defeat to one of the best in the game right now.”

What did you think of Hardy’s reaction?