Greg Hardy Issues Apology For Illegal Knee During His UFC Debut Fight

Greg Hardy issues an apology for apparently accidentally blasting Allen Crowder with an illegal knee strike to the head that ended his promotional debut. In the second round, referee Dan Miragliotta called it immediately after Crowder went down from the illegal knee to end the heavyweight showdown in the co-headliner. The UFC on ESPN+ 1 event down on Saturday night (January 19, 2019) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

There are some who believe that Hardy got caught in the heat of the moment and made a mistake. On the flip side, some believe that he lost his temper after being gassed in the first round. Either way, Hardy’s undefeated streak has come to an end.

Following the fight, Hardy addressed his actions and how this fight closed while talking with the media.

The Fight

“He was getting up, it was inexperience in mistiming it, man,” said Hardy to MMAFighting). “But I trying to time it like I had just watched Donald Cowboy Cerrone do, like I saw everybody else do. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. And it was not. I messed up.”

“I was built to do this,” Hardy said. “I was made to do this, man, and I let people down today. I let my gym down. I let my team down, and you know it? it sucks man. I didn’t want him to go out like that. That sucks for Allen Crowder man, for him to go out like that. No matter how he feels about me that’s not okay you know. I take full responsibility for this. It’s not something I’d do on purpose. Anybody that’s ever met me, or been around me, knows it’s not something I would do. I wish we could go back and go into the third round, man.”

Critics

Hardy also addressed the belief that he did this on purpose which is something that he strongly denies. Also, he hopes to have another UFC fight and is even open to giving Crowder a rematch. This is something that UFC President Dana White confirmed that Hardy would fight again under the UFC banner.

“Show me one time I’ve ever cheated in my life,” Hardy said. “Show me one of their favorite quarterbacks in history that I ever cheated against. Go ask Tom Brady if I ever cheated when I sacked him. I’m not a cheater. That’s not on my record, that’s not on my resume. Thirty years of life. Not one time. Not one time have you ever asked me a questions and I lied to you. Not one time have I ever stood up here and you asked a question. I said ‘it wasn’t my fault.’ I was there. I did it. It was my responsibility. I’m a grown man. That’s my character.”

“Allen Crowder, please come back and do this again, if he wants to. If not? I understand.”