Following the Bellator 194 weigh-ins on Thursday, Heather Hardy was of the belief she made weight. Unfortunately, the overseeing athletic commission disagreed. Somehow, this miscommunication wasn’t discovered until hours after she stepped on the …
Following the Bellator 194 weigh-ins on Thursday, Heather Hardy was of the belief she made weight. Unfortunately, the overseeing athletic commission disagreed. Somehow, this miscommunication wasn’t discovered until hours after she stepped on the scales. Hardy weighed in at 126.25lbs on Thursday, 0.25lbs overweight. She believes, however, that the athletic commission granted her a 0.25 […]
Fan favorite Heather Hardy thought she made weight earlier today for her flyweight bout against Ana Julaton at tomorrow night’s (Fri., February 16, 2018) Bellator 194 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., but controversy erupted when she found out that wasn’t the case. Hardy, a boxing champ who will return to action following a […]
Fan favorite Heather Hardy thought she made weight earlier today for her flyweight bout against Ana Julaton at tomorrow night’s (Fri., February 16, 2018) Bellator 194 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., but controversy erupted when she found out that wasn’t the case.
Hardy, a boxing champ who will return to action following a brutal TKO loss to Kristina Williams in her last MMA bout at Bellator 185, stepped on the scales and expressed apparent relief at having made weight, at which point she exited the stage and being rehydrating for her flyweight fight.
But she was a fraction over the fight’s 126-pound limit – officially coming in at 126.25 pounds. However, despite the ability for her to remove her bikini and weigh in with the towel to most likely drop the extra quarter of a pound, she did not do so after it was announced she was overweight, as it appeared a decision had been made. Hardy most likely would have made weight if given instruction to weigh in nude, and if needed, she also would have the additional two hours to drop any excess weight, something would seem unnecessary given her original weight.
Weigh-ins continued as planned and Hardy left thinking she was fine.
It was later released that Hardy did not make weight, and 20 percent of her purse would go to Julaton. That understandably confused and angered her, but Mike Mazzulli, the president of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation, the commission presiding over Bellator 194, told MMA Junkie that Hardy wouldn’t be allowed to drop any more weight, and he would cancel the match if she did:
“It was never said she was good. She got on the scale, (and) she was 126.25 … she was a quarter-pound over. At that point, I explained to her – after evaluating her and seeing how she was – that she was not going to lose anymore. The fight’s not going to happen (if she has to lose anymore) – I’ll cancel the fight. Fighter safety is the most important at Mohegan, and I make sure of it.”
Hardy predictably had a different side of the story, revealing that Mazzulli looked at her and said 126 and a man behind him even said they made an allowance for the bikini so she wouldn’t have to strip – something that was a source of the controversy:
“I did make the weight. I was two (tenths) over and they gave me the allowance for bikini top and bottom without making me strip in front of the room. (I’m) not sure about there having been a problem at all – I was backstage after the weigh-in hydrating and doing interviews for like an hour after.
“I was shocked when they called in and said they were fining me. Yes, it was a rough-ass weight cut – (it) was totally clear on my face. But (Mazzulli) looked at me and said 126. There was a guy behind him that said, ‘We make the allowance for your bikini. She isn’t stripping. We don’t need the towel.”
Mazzulli stood by his original decision, however, explaining his call to not let Hardy strip down was due to her action on the scale and his concern for her safety:
“I evaluated her, and I felt I didn’t even want her to (remove her clothes to use the towel), because at that point she wasn’t even speaking to me (on the scale),” Mazzulli said. “I made the decision as the commissioner that I wasn’t going to put her on the scale with no clothes on – that’s how concerned I was about her. And my doctors will re-evaluate her tonight at the (ceremonial) weigh-in, as well.”
He insisted he didn’t know why Hardy thought she had been told she made weight, and attribute to her lacking the ability to speak coherently:
“I explained to her (on the scale) that she did not (make weight) – that she was over a quarter-(pound), but I was not going to allow her to lose any more weight,” Mazzulli said. “… I explained to her, ‘I’m not even going to have you remove your clothes, because at this point you can’t even speak to me coherently. That concerns me.’”
With weight cutting a big in MMA right now, Mazzulli closed by detailing where they are with the fight currently:
“Rich Chou, the matchmaker, came to me, and I automatically fined Ms. Hardy 20 percent,” Mazzulli said. “(Julaton) came in, and I explained to her that it’s your decision if you’re going to fight, but Ms. Hardy is going to get a 20 percent fine, which is $2,400. And instead of me keeping $1,000 of it, which I have the right to, I provided the $2,400 to her opponent. At that point, (Julaton) accepted it, and that’s where we are right now.”
MMA is an inherently dangerous sport, but some injuries stick out more than others. A black eye, busted nose, and oftentimes blood are par for the course, but broken arms and legs are a tad more painful and gruesome. Some fighters have a reputation for causing serious bodily harm like Frank Mir and Rousimar Palhares, […]
MMA is an inherently dangerous sport, but some injuries stick out more than others.
A black eye, busted nose, and oftentimes blood are par for the course, but broken arms and legs are a tad more painful and gruesome.
Some fighters have a reputation for causing serious bodily harm like Frank Mir and Rousimar Palhares, and other fighters were victim to terrible circumstances.
We took a look back at the 10 worst injuries in MMA history.
10. Frank Mir vs. Tim Sylvia
Mir’s name will pop up a few times on this list, a true adherer to the notion of tap-or-snap.
When Mir took on Tim Sylvia for the vacant heavyweight title back at UFC 53, it didn’t take long for him to exercise that concept. Within a minute of the first round, Mir had a hold of the Mainiac’s arm, and before anyone knew it referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.
Sylvia protested the stoppage, but instant replay showed Mir had snapped his arm like a twig. The crowd gasped in horror as they watched the big screen replay. Sylvia would end up requiring several rods and a multitude of stitches to put his broken arm back together again.
The plans that world boxing champion Heather Hardy had going into her fight against Kristina Williams at Bellator 185, which took place on Friday, October 20, 2017, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, didn’t play out as she wanted. The preliminary card aired online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card aired […]
The plans that world boxing champion Heather Hardy had going into her fight against Kristina Williams at Bellator 185, which took place on Friday, October 20, 2017, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, didn’t play out as she wanted.
The preliminary card aired online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card aired on Spike TV at 9:00 PM EST. As seen in the fight, she got smashed by Williams, who picked up the second-round TKO win.
Although this fight marked Hardy’s second professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bout, she did hold an undefeated record of 20-0 (1 NC) as a pro boxer.
People are praising Hardy for putting up a great effort, but at the end of the day, she is still dealing with a broken nose, which the cage side doctor’s decided she had enough at the end of the second round.
The next day after the loss and reflecting on it, she decided to take to her official Instagram account to issue a statement.
“I’m sorry I let everyone down. I gave it my all out there, and I truly hope it showed,” Hardy wrote via Instagram. “I’d rather lose then give y’all a boring fight because I appreciate every one of you… sponsors, coaches, friends, family and fans… and the worst part was knowing I couldn’t get the job done for all of you.
Congrats to a game Kristina Williams, who had an answer for everything I tried. OSU! And in case everyone is wondering, YES, I will be back. Nothing will ever take the fight out of me, not even this broken nose. I knew coming into this new world I was taking a big risk, and this is all part of my journey. You’ve all heard how resilient I am. Now watch me bounce back.”
A post shared by Heather Hardy (@heathertheheat) on
Hardy seems resilient in her approach to MMA despite the loss to Williams being considered a huge upset. She was able to conquer the boxing world and escape it without a loss. Now, stepping back inside of the cage at this point may actually bring out a side in Hardy she didn’t know she had.
Heather Hardy tasted her first loss in Mixed Martial Arts off the back of a harsh lesson handed down to her by Kristina Williams In fact, this was Hardy’s first loss as a professional athlete. The 35-year-old built up a 20-0 career in boxing prior to crossing over into MMA. Her Bellator debut in June was […]
Heather Hardy tasted her first loss in Mixed Martial Arts off the back of a harsh lesson handed down to her by Kristina Williams In fact, this was Hardy’s first loss as a professional athlete. The 35-year-old built up a 20-0 career in boxing prior to crossing over into MMA. Her Bellator debut in June was […]
Amongst other things, tonight’s (Fri., October 20, 2017) Bellator 185 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., was supposed to feature the continued rise of touted women’s strawweight Heather ‘The Heat’ Hardy, who met the debuting Kristina Williams on the main card. But Williams proved she was miles ahead of the MMA striking game in the […]
Amongst other things, tonight’s (Fri., October 20, 2017) Bellator 185 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., was supposed to feature the continued rise of touted women’s strawweight Heather ‘The Heat’ Hardy, who met the debuting Kristina Williams on the main card.
But Williams proved she was miles ahead of the MMA striking game in the cage, keeping boxing champ Hardy at range with a never-ending arsenal of kicks and peppering her with vicious elbows when Hardy did get within boxing range.
By the beginning of the second round, Hardy was bloodied and the cageside doctor stepped in to check her out. She was allowed to continue, but after around a minute-and-a-half into the second, Williams landed a monstrous head kick that shattered Hardy’s nose and immediately caused the ref to motion in the doctor, who stopped the fight this time around.
The stoppage was a justified one, too, as Hardy was bleeding profusely from her badly injured nose and was apparently escorted from the arena by media technicians:
