If you thought the rub on former NFL star Greg Hardy was bad before his UFC debut, the conclusion of his first fight under the promotion’s banner didn’t help much.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the UFC’s decision to book Hardy on this past weekend’s (Sat. January 19, 2019) UFC on ESPN+ 1 card. Mostly because of his history of domestic abuse, and the fact that UFC flyweight Rachael Ostovich – who was recently assaulted by her husband – was on the same card.
Hardy knocked out all of his opponents heading into his UFC debut in the first round. However, when he faced Allen Crowder in Brooklyn, Hardy was pushed a whole lot more than he ever has been. Crowder was able to get the fight into the second round, taking Hardy down and putting him on his back for the first time in his career.
Just when it looked like Crowder, who likely won the first round with his ground attack, was going to get Hardy back to the ground in the second round, Hardy nailed Crowder with an illegal knee. The illegal knee was clear-cut, and many believe Hardy did it on purpose. However, Crowder himself tells “The MMA Hour” that he simply believes Hardy’s knee was due to “inexperience” (via MMA Fighting):
“I don’t think he was looking for a way out,” Crowder said. “I think it’s more inexperience. He’s not been doing this very long. He stepped out to the side. I believe in his mind he thought … I know he knew he’s not allowed to throw that knee with me on the ground.
“But I think heated up in the heat of the moment, he just forgot for a split second and threw that knee trying to get that finish. He just made a mistake. Another mistake of many mistakes that he makes. But I don’t feel like he was trying to cop out of the fight.
“He’s a tough dude. I think it was just an inexperience kind of thing.”
After the knee, Crowder intended on taking a few seconds to recover and get back up to fight. However, the doctors immediately stopped the contest, despite Crowder feeling he had more left in the tank:
“It more stunned me than anything,” Crowder said. “I fell back to my back and I knew that he wasn’t allowed to do that. So I was like, alright, I’m gonna take a second, I’m gonna get back up, we’ll be good to go.
“Then the doctors start running in there and they immediately stop the fight and whatnot. Had that knee not hit me in the head, I feel like I was gonna get him back on the ground. I still had more left in the tank. I feel like if I got him back on the ground, I would have finished him with elbows like I planned on from the beginning.”
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