Greg Hardy has reached his ceiling

[sonhow]

not really, as the OP eluded to, which I agree with, he hasnt KO'd anyone that is legit B-level or better fighter.

he blasted tybura in round 1 and bloodied his face and tybura didnt flinch.

Anyone like Hardy has at least a punchers chance. Maybe small but it's there. He hit Tybura a lot but it's a matter of coincidence that he didn't do more damage.
I was impressed with his first round and I was 90% sure Marcin would whoop him.

 

[John of Arc]

He sucks, I'd be humiliated to be one of the guys who have losses to him.

 

[MRT]

He was still breathing hard when they announced the decision!

 

[lsa]

He was still breathing hard when they announced the decision!

I wonder what happens if he takes a brisk walk

 

[MRT]

I wonder what happens if he takes a brisk walk

Don't worry...he takes this with him

 

[djason1988]

It's a tough go against these life long martial artists. Having said that, at 32 he's still relatively young for the HW division and is obviously young in the sport with just a few years of training. There's no reason to believe why he won't still improve if he fully commits himself to training, as he obviously has the athleticism. He won't ever be champ, but could certainly end up ranked (I mean guys like Walt Harris and Blagoy Ivanov are ranked HW's). He clearly needs to be committed to dropping some weight and improving his cardio if he's going to get there though.

"Life-long martial artists" is a myth. A lot of these guys didn't get into combat sports, much less mma, until their late teens or early 20's. Ngannou is one of the most dangerous dudes in the world and didn't start training until his mid 20's. Claiming otherwise is an attempt to give hardy a pass.

 

[lsa]

"Life-long martial artists" is a myth. A lot of these guys didn't get into combat sports, much less mma, until their late teens or early 20's. Ngannou is one of the most dangerous dudes in the world and didn't start training until his mid 20's. Claiming otherwise is an attempt to give hardy a pass.

JDS started training BJJ at 20-21 and in 6 months he was winning competitions.
At 22 he was in the UFC.

 

[Al Stone]

Hardy is Grade A card filler. Say whatever negative you want about the man but leaving that out makes me say man shut up. He puts on a show he wins he loses. I dont have any greater expectations. So if he has checked those blocks whats the fussing for?

 

[HP_Nut]

There are worst HWs in the UFC so I wouldn't say he isn't UFC calibre (HW is probably the worst Men's division), but I don't ever see him as a serious contender.

 

[HunterAcosta]

His ex took it on the chin pretty well. Both ways .

 

[storeybuckle]

Greg Hardy has defenitly improved since his debut, you'll have to give him that. His striking has come along nicely which was obvious in his fight against Volkov & Tybura. However, Tybura isn't much of a striker so looking good on the feet should be a given against him.

The problem Hardy has is that the strikers in the top 15 of the HW division all beat him easily in a striking match. Volkov, Reem, Miocic, Ngannou, Rozenstruik etc. Then you have the top grapplers like Blaydes, olynyk, Ivanov etc who easily beat him with 1 takedown.

Then you have other guys of similar skill guys who have better cardio like Tanner Boser, Spivak, the guy with the diaper (did ufc cut him?). Who beat him from rd 2 forward.

All of the top 15 beat him easily at this point.

What's Hardy to do? He legit has Asthma which affects his cardio greatly plus he's a HW. His cardio won't be improving beyond what he has now. His grappling won't improve to a point where he can rely on it anytime soon, if ever. Even if he did become a good grappler his cardio doesn't support that type of style.

He can't beat the strikers, the grapplers, or the guys with better cardio.

Imo Hardy doesn't even have a punchers chance against the top guys. His KO power is over exaggerated and is more akin to a myth as opposed to reality. He hasnt KO'd anyone who is seriously invested in MMA. The TKOs he has are from guys using the opportunity as a way out of the fight because alot of them were intimidated by Hardy due to his hype. He didnt even wobble Tybura and hit him with 5 straights in a row last night.

Hardy has improved greatly but he isn't UFC caliber, not even at HW. I appreciate that he gets people excited for his fights and I've persnally watched them all but I think he'll be around for 1 or 2 more fights and maybe he'll be off to another adventure.

Is there anyone who thinks he'll actually crack the top 10 of the division? If so, how?

Bbbut... he’s an “A-level athlete” who played in the NFL. Just give him 6 (more) months of tdd and boxing training and he will dominate the HW division (sarcasm)

 

[Deleted member 110072]

"Life-long martial artists" is a myth. A lot of these guys didn't get into combat sports, much less mma, until their late teens or early 20's. Ngannou is one of the most dangerous dudes in the world and didn't start training until his mid 20's. Claiming otherwise is an attempt to give hardy a pass.

You do I think see with guys like JDS and Ngannou those who have a strong natural gift for MMA and its not just some standard "athleticism" that can transfer over from another sport.

You have had guys like Fedor, Werdum, Nog, Crocop, etc who do have strong long term MA backgrounds before MMA though.

 

[storeybuckle]

“Elite athlete” and he has absolutely no cardio and as soon as the fight hit the ground and he got hit he turtled. How did he make the NFL? I doubt he can run a 40 without passing out or needing his inhaler.

Oxygen masks on the sidelines and 5-8 second plays are what he’s built for!

Most NFL football players don’t have endurance that’s needed for fighting

 

[chance mccoy]

Cardio is a bitch

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

yeah i don't see his cardio getting any better... hes got asthma.....

Maybe his fat arse should put some road work in and lose some weight

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

“Elite athlete” and he has absolutely no cardio and as soon as the fight hit the ground and he got hit he turtled. How did he make the NFL? I doubt he can run a 40 without passing out or needing his inhaler.

He made the NFL because they allow inhalers.

Overall, I think TS is right. He's clearly improved in some ways, and his first round was actually somewhat impressive last night. But his grappling is so bad it's hard to envision it becoming serviceable, and even with the more measured approach we saw last night, he still only had cardio for one round.

He can beat some guys at HW, but he won't crack the top ten without a lung transplant, some serious weight loss, and neurally downloading Alan Belcher submission defense DVDs.

 

[chance mccoy]

View attachment 821195 Oxygen masks on the sidelines and 5-8 second plays are what he’s built for!

Most NFL football players don’t have endurance that’s needed for fighting

Sad, we will probably never see a Tyreek Hill level athlete in any MMA promotion. Why pass up hundreds of millions to get punched in the face?

 

[Shoguns Prodigy**]

But but but he is a level athlete he is gona be ufc champ with just 6 months of training that’s what American sports nuthuggers told everyone.

 

[13 others]

Hardy is Grade A card filler. Say whatever negative you want about the man but leaving that out makes me say man shut up. He puts on a show he wins he loses. I dont have any greater expectations. So if he has checked those blocks whats the fussing for?

Well, I did mention it. Like I said, I watched all his fights and generally I find he is a popular fighter at HW. I won't take that away from him.

 

[Aurelian]

Put him in there with JDS.