Opinion: Greg Hardy’s conduct was clearly an unforeseeable freak occurrence

Frankly, I am shocked.

The UFC’s debut on ESPN was, overall, a thrilling card with a plethora of memorable moments, but it seemed to lose steam during the final two bouts.

The main event, in which Olympic gold medalist – and Tito Ortiz spirit animal – Henry Cejudo controversially stopped T.J. Dillashaw within seconds, seemed to be an anticlimactic end to what was a highly anticipated champion vs. champion bout.

Leading into that mess was Greg Hardy, who tried to Big Football Man his way through a determined Allen Crowder, only to find that Crowder did not fall down as easily as some of his earlier opponents.

Instead, Crowder survived Hardy’s sloppy early onslaught. And in the most satisfying moment of the fight, Crowder dropped his hands in the second round and began to taunt and jeer a clearly irritated and fading Hardy — whose pace had slowed to one resembling that of the earlier ESPN prelims.

Then, following a failed Crowder takedown attempt and a scramble, a standing Hardy clenched onto his kneeling opponent. Hardy hesitated, waited for a few moments, and then slammed his knee with a disgusting thud into Crowder’s grounded head, in what was surely one of his most visceral moments of illegal violence.

Dan Miragliotta quickly pulled Hardy away, and stated that – if Crowder could not continue – Hardy would be disqualified.

The disqualification should be absolutely beyond contention: he hesitated, he waited, and then he threw the strike anyway. It was a blatant and severe foul which inflicted immense damage on Crowder. What was debated, by some, was whether or not Hardy was aware that the knee was illegal.

Far be it for me to presume that a man with three amateur and three pro fights is aware of a rule which even a cursory fan of the sport would be able to repeat to you — but actually, no, Hardy was aware of the rule. If there was any doubt about that, he put an end to it during several post-fight interviews.

Hardy simply “mistimed” the knee. By which I assume he means that he believed the time to be somewhere in 1994, prior to the establishment of the unified rules of MMA.

It’s impossible to know Hardy’s intentions, and maybe it really can be attributed to inexperience. But, I can lay out a few facts, from which the reader can draw their own conclusion.

• Hardy was horribly gassed and his output had waned significantly
• Hardy’s opponent was wildly taunting him, mocking him, and appeared to hold the momentum
• Hardy was aware that the strike was illegal
• Hardy visibly considered and measured the strike for several moments before throwing it

Dana White, who has handled Hardy’s signing as a UFC athlete with an incredible irreverence and lack of tact, was quick to defend Hardy in the most bizarre of ways.

“So, you know, one thing, the guy can fight. The guy can fight, he’s real. He fought a guy with 13 fights, he’s got 3.”

What in the actual hell is that supposed to mean? Greg Hardy’s ability to inflict violence on other human beings was never in question; whatever athletic or competitive curiosity surrounds Hardy comes from questions concerning how he would be able to compete in mixed martial arts, under the rules of mixed martial arts. If Hardy had bashed Crowder over the head with a tire iron, I wouldn’t be thinking, “this is it, right here. This guy can fuckin’ bang.”

White didn’t particularly seem to care about Hardy’s past when he brought him on board, and he probably cared even less when he signed Hardy to the co-main event of the UFC’s first card with their new broadcasting partners, ESPN. He brushed aside criticism, and even placed Hardy on the same card as Rachael Ostovich – a recent abuse survivor who felt the need to approach and reassure Hardy in light of the obvious controversy that followed. When asked how Ostovich had handled the situation during the event’s pre-fight press conference in Brooklyn, White stated, “there was never a situation.”

Although, he had much more to say when asked about Hardy’s potential as a fighter. He commended Hardy on his legs, and not for the first time: “The guy is gifted, he’s a great athlete. Were you there earlier today? You see his legs? I mean, the legs on this guy, it’s fucking crazy.”

And, hey, maybe there isn’t a situation here either. Maybe the concerns people had about Greg Hardy’s violent past don’t matter, and maybe his extracurricular violence on fight night didn’t matter either. Certainly, White made it abundantly clear earlier in the week that what people think or feel about the situation (or lack thereof) is of no consequence to him.

“The guy deserves to make a living,” White continued. “He’s paid his dues. When I make a decision that this is what I’m going to do, other people’s opinions don’t matter.”

If the UFC and its broadcast partners are content with White’s decision, then perhaps it’s irrelevant what fans, or journalists, or abuse survivors think. Hardy may have shit the bed, but he has still apparently “paid his dues.” He apparently still “deserves to make a living” as a professional athlete, and he still has a set of legs that makes Dana go gaga. In the end, for the UFC, it seems nothing else matters.