Former NFL Star's UFC Debut Finalized

By Ross Kelly December 5, 2018 at 2:19pm

Former NFL Pro Bowler and current mixed martial artist Greg Hardy will make his UFC debut in January, according to UFC President Dana White.

He will face Allen Crowder (9-3) at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 19 in Brooklyn, New York.

Hardy is 3-0 in his MMA career since making his pro debut in June.

His first three bouts lasted a combined 2 minutes and 7 seconds, and each was over in the first round. His first fight was against another former NFL player, Austen Lane, and lasted just 57 seconds.

It was after that fight that Hardy signed a developmental deal with UFC that allowed him to gain additional experience. He was expected to fight on a regional show in Florida in late December, but UFC pulled him out of that fight in anticipation of his promotional debut.

Hardy’s representatives haven’t commented on the announcement of his UFC debut, but Hardy did mention it in an Instagram post Wednesday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrAlqhjgwf5/

Crowder has not fought since December 2017 and hasn’t won a fight since August 2017. He signed with UFC last year after making his pro debut in 2014.

Hardy played defensive end for the Carolina Panthers from 2010 to 2014. In 2013, he finished third in the NFL with 15 sacks, made the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqyKg5sgxIU/

However, he was convicted of domestic violence in 2014, with the charges later expunged from his record after the victim failed to appear in court.

Do you think UFC should be giving Hardy this opportunity given his past?

Hardy played in just the season opener that year and was on the commissioner’s exempt list for the final 15 games. He was then suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

Hardy’s last NFL action came in 12 games with the Dallas Cowboys in 2015.

White is well aware of Hardy’s past but is willing to give him the second chance that the NFL is apparently no longer willing to give him.

Hardy’s UFC debut will come on the same card as Rachael Ostovich, who recently suffered a broken orbital bone in an alleged domestic violence incident with her husband.

So Greg Hardy, who was blackballed from the NFL of all places in small part for his past DV allegations, will fight in the same arena in the same night as Rachael Ostovich, whose husband allegedly assaulted her last month. Ponder that, folks.

— Scott Fontana (@Scott_Fontana) December 5, 2018

Luke speaks the truth. The problem is less that he’s competing at all — although those who hold that opinion are free to feel that way — and more that it’s about the most tone-deaf look the UFC could put out there in their event of the ESPN deal. Horrible optics.

— Scott Fontana (@Scott_Fontana) December 5, 2018

The injury forced Ostovich to pull out of her scheduled fight at UFC 143 with Paige VanZant. But after she was cleared by a doctor to compete, the fight was rescheduled to the Jan. 19 event in Brooklyn.

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