Greg Hardy's UFC (and combat sport) legacy

[Doctor Grudge]

Exactly.

He was the proof that obese guys that can play NFL are shit athletes despite muricans creaming their pants when they see a 6ft5 guy who can run fast for like 5 seconds.

American football is NOT the best base for MMA.

there's over 50 players on an NFL roster, most of them are hardly "obese". it's only the linemen that look fat, for the same reason that sumo wrestlers look fat.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I really think UFC dropped the ball with this guy.

You had an athletic monster everyone hated, with a bad chin but had tons of power. So you either got to see him KO the fat HWs and send them packing or see his ass get knocked out. I'll take those fights over the normal HW gas slop. Let him fight until they can't clear him anymore.

If you look at his only losses in the UFC, it's to guys who made up the top 10. Tuivasa, Tybura, Spivac. Some of those are the "good" wins of top 5 HWs. UFC could've let Hardy fight more often and stack the prelims. I miss Pride style cans, this was like a dangerous can.

isnt what you described basically what the normal HW gas slop is? There's nothing unique about Hardy's fights, they're atypical of regional level HW MMA. Fat guys knocking each other out is pretty typical in the UFC.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

All his personal shit aside, Hardy was a fun HW to watch for a year or two.

He was smashing guys left and right, out of the gate. Granted, none of them were quality but it still made for a good time.

Then he started losing in dramatic fashion, and this was just as fun. Easy guy to root against. Damn unlikeable.

He's since boxed, and fought outside of the UFC, and recently (supposedly?) retired

He'll be a footnote in the UFC and beyond.

At the end of the day, he was a fun, mid-level KO guy. A simp that was fun to watch. Loved watching him get punished

Just wondering if anyone has any lasting impressions of the guy?

That's. . . . a fair assessment and good take on his career. It was indeed fun watching him crush cans, while simultaneously listening to the cringe-inducing "A-level athlete" crew on here proclaim his greatness . . . . just to watch him soon get manhandled by pudgy slugs like Tybura. Like you say, VERY easy guy to root against.

 

[gunlok]

November 28, 2025, Former UFC fighter and NFL Player Greg Hardy collapses into his corner and retires at the end of Round 3 of his exhibition bout with Evgeny Goncharov in Vologda, Russia, with the American seen asking his corner for an inhaler . This guy just can't catch a break

 

[MrCoffee]

Everyone shitting the bed today?

 

[gosuasus]

At some point he was the GOAT but quickly became a can.

 

[Tweak896]

isnt what you described basically what the normal HW gas slop is? There's nothing unique about Hardy's fights, they're atypical of regional level HW MMA. Fat guys knocking each other out is pretty typical in the UFC.

I'm talking about the fat HWs that rarely get KO's and after the 1st round, everyone watching knows whatever power is gone and they start clinching and wrestling. Just saying I'll take Hardy sticking around getting his ass KO'd on the prelims than the guys who are super low level.

 

[rjmbrd]

2 he is a focal point of the A level athlete in combat sports debate.

The A level athlete debate has to be on even ground - if Hardy entered MMA instead of football, we could see what that looked like. Once a guy is done with their career in athletics and washes up on the short of MMA, that window is long closed.

Greg played 4 years of college football then 6 years of NFL. He had 3 surgeries during college and is quoted saying he had "5 surgeries" during a pro interview.

A much more reasonable example is Jon Jones - you have 3 brothers - 2 enter the NFL and Jon enters MMA. He got his junior college girlfriend pregnant and needed to earn money, so a guy with elite genetics and potential tripped and fell into MMA.

When a Jones' brother plays in the NFL, they say its a good player if not forgettable. When a Jones enters MMA, we call him the greatest of all time. Other sports are entirely populated with that level of athleticism that is considered a generational talent in our sport.

Until the pay split goes up dramatically, we'll continue to shuffle around single skill old fat guys in the upper weight divisions.

 

[xentreos]

Him using that inhaler was the craziest thing I've ever seen in between rounds. In all my years in any combat sport have I ever seen that.

 

[VAfan]

guy who helped prove the 'a-level athlete' crap was all BS. no one's waltzing into mma and gonna kick ass just by being some stud athlete.

 

[Cletus Fertitta]

They'd beat the shit out of pussy soccer players.

Oh god another one of these closeted homosexuals. Shits old queer.

 

[Skarsgard]

I really think UFC dropped the ball with this guy.

You had an athletic monster everyone hated, with a bad chin but had tons of power. So you either got to see him KO the fat HWs and send them packing or see his ass get knocked out. I'll take those fights over the normal HW gas slop. Let him fight until they can't clear him anymore.

If you look at his only losses in the UFC, it's to guys who made up the top 10. Tuivasa, Tybura, Spivac. Some of those are the "good" wins of top 5 HWs. UFC could've let Hardy fight more often and stack the prelims. I miss Pride style cans, this was like a dangerous can.

I think they dropped the ball when they signed him in the first place.

 

[Bork Neslar]

GOAT.

 

[fjodor]

I will always like Hardy for showing us what a true A-level athlete can do in MMA. Taking naps and breathing heavy were his specialties. Apart from beating women ofcourse.

 

[Limeade]

Him using that inhaler was the craziest thing I've ever seen in between rounds. In all my years in any combat sport have I ever seen that.

Why is it the craziest thing you ever seen?

Yoel and the stool is more remarkable. Anthony Smith saying his teeth are falling out is more memorable.

I don't see anything special about the inhaler. He doesn't get an advantage right?

 

[Skarsgard]

Why is it the craziest thing you ever seen?

Yoel and the stool is more remarkable. Anthony Smith saying his teeth are falling out is more memorable.

I don't see anything special about the inhaler. He doesn't get an advantage right?

Yoel was told to sit on the stool. The craziest part about that is that they ignored the foul that led to him getting hurt.
Fighters get their teeth busted all the time.
Popping out an inhaler to help catch your breath is absolutely out of the ordinary.

 

[Thesnake101]

The A level athlete debate has to be on even ground - if Hardy entered MMA instead of football, we could see what that looked like. Once a guy is done with their career in athletics and washes up on the short of MMA, that window is long closed.

Greg played 4 years of college football then 6 years of NFL. He had 3 surgeries during college and is quoted saying he had "5 surgeries" during a pro interview.

A much more reasonable example is Jon Jones - you have 3 brothers - 2 enter the NFL and Jon enters MMA. He got his junior college girlfriend pregnant and needed to earn money, so a guy with elite genetics and potential tripped and fell into MMA.

When a Jones' brother plays in the NFL, they say its a good player if not forgettable. When a Jones enters MMA, we call him the greatest of all time. Other sports are entirely populated with that level of athleticism that is considered a generational talent in our sport.

Until the pay split goes up dramatically, we'll continue to shuffle around single skill old fat guys in the upper weight divisions.

Except that there's no reason to believe that the type of athleticism that lets some of those guys excel at their given sport would translate to combat sports let alone MMA. Furthermore comparing Jon to his brothers on an athletic level will always be an apples to oranges comparison if only for the fact that individuals, even those who are blood relatives, are rarely one to one in terms of potential.

We even see examples of that not being the case in MMA, and the same holds true for other sports - one brother tends to be better than the other.

Even with pay going up I don't think we'll see those team sports athletes make the switch, it'll only make wrestlers, grapplers strikers (non-boxers) more interested in dedicating themselves to MMA, and they'd be the more interesting additions on account of having a base to work with. Non-combat sports will by and large remain the more popular choice for any athletic guy looking to be a competitor. The pay will always be greater, as will the fame. It's why HW boxing sucks ass despite them offering so much more in terms of money than the UFC.

That being said we have already seen A-level athletes in combat sports before, they just tend to be in the smaller weight classes because those are the opportunities they have.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

What are you on. He was dreadful

 

[Limeade]

Yoel was told to sit on the stool. The craziest part about that is that they ignored the foul that led to him getting hurt.
Fighters get their teeth busted all the time.
Popping out an inhaler to help catch your breath is absolutely out of the ordinary.

And yet it happens all the time and so ordinary in other sports.



I also remember Tatum used an inhaler too in the NBA.

There's a big difference between using an albuterol inhaler for medical reasons and performance enhancements to catch your breath.

 

[Limeade]

How would up and coming Greg Hardy do against declining Tim Silvia?