- Joined
- Jul 14, 2013
- Messages
- 10,887
- Reaction score
- 236
Kevin Iole:
Putting aside the legal, ethical and moral considerations, there hasn’t been much of a discussion about whether Hardy belongs in the UFC purely from a competitive standpoint. The narrative is always that he’s this elite athlete who has the ability to morph into some sensational sort of fighter the likes of which the world hasn’t yet seen.
But after Hardy’s competitive unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkov on Saturday in Moscow, it’s a good time to look at where Hardy stands in the UFC. Hardy is 5-2 with a no-contest in his eight MMA bouts, two of which were on DWCS and the other five of which were in the UFC.
. . .
We can probably learn more from his loss to Volkov, who entered their bout ranked No. 7 at heavyweight, than from any of his other fights combined.
. . .
What is notable is that while Volkov clearly won all three rounds of the fight, he never hurt Hardy or threatened him with a submission. So, Hardy wasn’t overmatched; he wasn’t nearly as good as Volkov, but it’s not as if he was out of place.
We didn’t see any of the power, speed, quickness and explosion we were led to believe were hallmarks of Hardy’s game. While Volkov didn’t rock him, it’s important to note that neither did Hardy threaten Volkov. He didn’t seem especially fast or quick, and we didn’t see that crushing shot that could have turned the fight around.
. . .
Hardy proved against Volkov that he belongs in the UFC. He was competitive with an elite opponent and was not overmatched in any way. While some have alleged that he was gifted his spot because of his notoriety as an NFL player, he’s since earned it. But there is a huge difference between being good enough to fill a spot on the roster and to be good enough to win a championship.
And that’s where my hesitation comes with Hardy. I haven’t been expecting him to look great, necessarily; I have been expecting to see this explosion, the athleticism and the power we have all been led to believe is lurking somewhere within.
Until Volkov, he’s been matched more than favorably and he hasn’t shown those traits in those fights. You would expect that while experience would cause him problems, his physical traits would be on display.
. . .
I’m not sure, though, that we’re looking at anything more than a decent, mid-level heavyweight. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s far from the MMA equivalent of all-pro. He’s beyond the practice squad body at this point, but it seems unlikely he’s ever going to be an impact performer in MMA.
https://sports.yahoo.com/after-a-co...es-greg-hardy-stand-in-the-ufc-205804638.html
Putting aside the legal, ethical and moral considerations, there hasn’t been much of a discussion about whether Hardy belongs in the UFC purely from a competitive standpoint. The narrative is always that he’s this elite athlete who has the ability to morph into some sensational sort of fighter the likes of which the world hasn’t yet seen.
But after Hardy’s competitive unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkov on Saturday in Moscow, it’s a good time to look at where Hardy stands in the UFC. Hardy is 5-2 with a no-contest in his eight MMA bouts, two of which were on DWCS and the other five of which were in the UFC.
. . .
We can probably learn more from his loss to Volkov, who entered their bout ranked No. 7 at heavyweight, than from any of his other fights combined.
. . .
What is notable is that while Volkov clearly won all three rounds of the fight, he never hurt Hardy or threatened him with a submission. So, Hardy wasn’t overmatched; he wasn’t nearly as good as Volkov, but it’s not as if he was out of place.
We didn’t see any of the power, speed, quickness and explosion we were led to believe were hallmarks of Hardy’s game. While Volkov didn’t rock him, it’s important to note that neither did Hardy threaten Volkov. He didn’t seem especially fast or quick, and we didn’t see that crushing shot that could have turned the fight around.
. . .
Hardy proved against Volkov that he belongs in the UFC. He was competitive with an elite opponent and was not overmatched in any way. While some have alleged that he was gifted his spot because of his notoriety as an NFL player, he’s since earned it. But there is a huge difference between being good enough to fill a spot on the roster and to be good enough to win a championship.
And that’s where my hesitation comes with Hardy. I haven’t been expecting him to look great, necessarily; I have been expecting to see this explosion, the athleticism and the power we have all been led to believe is lurking somewhere within.
Until Volkov, he’s been matched more than favorably and he hasn’t shown those traits in those fights. You would expect that while experience would cause him problems, his physical traits would be on display.
. . .
I’m not sure, though, that we’re looking at anything more than a decent, mid-level heavyweight. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s far from the MMA equivalent of all-pro. He’s beyond the practice squad body at this point, but it seems unlikely he’s ever going to be an impact performer in MMA.
https://sports.yahoo.com/after-a-co...es-greg-hardy-stand-in-the-ufc-205804638.html
Last edited:
