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With Junior dos Santos injured, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has called on Greg Hardy to jump in on short notice to fight No. 7-ranked Alexander Volkov in the upcoming UFC Moscow co-main event on Sat., Nov. 9, 2019 inside CSKA Arena in Moscow, Russia.
It’s a major (and overdue) step up in competition for the “Prince of War,” who somehow managed to rack up one disqualification and one “no contest” in just four trips to the Octagon. That said, Hardy isn’t going to turn down an opportunity to be a company man.
“The UFC always has my back,” Hardy told TMZ. “They took a gamble on me, you know what I mean? They let me in the door. So if they need somebody to fill in, then for sure, I’m about to go knock the guy out. And the last one, soft Derrick Lewis knocked this dude out. If ‘pillow hands’ Lewis can do it, for sure I feel like I can go in there and compete and knock this guy out. And he’s a monster, too.”
Volkov (30-7) hasn’t competed since a stunning knockout loss to Lewis at UFC 229 back in October 2018, which snapped the Russian’s six-fight winning streak. “Drago” holds notable victories over Fabricio Werdum and Roy Nelson, among others.
As for Hardy (5-1), he’s been fed a steady diet of tomato cans and also-rans. His natural athleticism — good enough to earn him a spot in the NFL — coupled with his heavy hands has made him a formidable prospect in the weakened heavyweight division.
Perhaps a victory in Moscow earns him a shot against the “Black Beast.”