Upon his entry into the UFC in 2019, NFL veteran Greg Hardy had a lot of push behind him. But after three straight stoppage losses, the organization decided to part ways with “The Prince of War” in March, upon the expiration of his contract.
Still eager to continue a career in prizefighting, the 33-year-old Hardy recently signed with BKFC. But according to him, his MMA run with the UFC isn’t exactly over, as he was offered a chance to return. It does, however, come with a catch.
“They hit me up. My contract was already up, so we knew what was up,” Hardy told Chris Van Vliet in a recent interview. “They hit me up, told me the same thing they said in interviews. ‘If you can get some wrestling going in another promotion, we’ll be glad to sign you back. We love having you, we appreciate you.’
“I sent them my thank yous and love and went to looking for where I can throw these hands and found BKFC. It was actually a really good parting and like I said, I look forward to going back one day and putting on a show for you guys and maybe body slamming somebody for about three rounds when I learn some wrestling.”
Hardy also shared some of his challenges as a UFC fighter, like having to cut down to the 265-pound heavyweight limit from his walking weight of 340 pounds. What he says he’s looking forward to the most in bare-knuckle boxing is not having to worry about the other aspects of MMA, and being in his “realm.”
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for me,” Hardy said of his upcoming BKFC run. “I’ve been dreaming and thinking about it since the news came in. The possibilities with no takedowns. The first thing that popped in my head (was) ‘No takedowns? Now, I get to bang, bro. It’s gonna be fun.’
“The UFC was a lot of just preparing for what could happen in a world where I don’t understand the basics that was wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing. I haven’t had enough time in the sport to actually become a top-five kind of athlete. That’s what I was fighting.
“In BKFC, I spent most of my time boxing, so now, I can be inside of my realm,” he continued. “We’re focused more on the actual boxing aspect, the conditioning aspect. Conditioning my knuckles, my mindset for the different style of fighting. That’s about it. It’s maintenance. I’m having so much fun with it, too.”
Hardy (7-5, 1 NC in MMA) last fought at UFC 272 against Sergey Spivak in March, where he lost via first-round TKO. BKFC has yet to announce his debut date and opponent.
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