Greg Hardy opens up on the backlash that he received due to the way that his first fight in the UFC went.
His promotional debut ended in controversy when he blasted Allen Crowder with an illegal knee strike to the head at UFC on ESPN+ 1. 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 former NFL star will step back in the Octagon for his second UFC fight as he is expected to fight Dmitrii Smoliakov at the UFC Miami event.
While doing a recent interview, Hardy noted that the backlash from fans from his last fight impacted him and shook him to his core.
“In a game where it all lies on what you do in that cage, it’s hard to walk out a loser,” Hardy told MMA Junkie. “I’m not one – anybody can check out my history – I’ve dealt with it terribly in the past, and I’ve dealt with it great before, but it’s all the same outcome. I hate losing. I’m not a loser, I’m not a cheater. I said when I first came into this business: I earned everything that I have right now.
“I’ve taken every opportunity. Anybody that wanted to stop me could’ve jumped in my way and knocked me out and took care of business. That’s how I do things. It kind of shook me to my core when I came out the ring, and everybody’s standpoint was, ‘He’s a cheater.’ It kind of threw me off a bit.”
UFC Miami is set to take place on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The main card will air on ESPN. The preliminary card will be split broadcasted on ESPN and the TV network’s streaming service, ESPN +.
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