5 reasons why UFC 272 should mark the end of Greg Hardy's time in the octagon
This weekend sees UFC 272 go down from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and on the main card, former NFL star Greg Hardy faces Sergey Spivak in a heavyweight bout.
Greg Hardy’s fight with Sergey Spivak at UFC 272 is set to be the final bout on his current contract, so should the promotion ink him to a new one?
As of the time of writing, there have been no reports of the UFC looking to offer Hardy an extension – so should they finally cut ties with ‘The Prince of War’?
The answer is yes. With that in mind, here are five reasons why UFC 272 should mark the end of Hardy's time in the octagon.
#5. Greg Hardy is still widely disliked by the fans
The signing of Greg Hardy by the UFC was always going to be a controversial one. After all, the former defensive end was essentially forced out of the NFL following a domestic violence charge in 2014, despite having a guilty verdict quashed when his victim failed to show up in court.
The fact, then, that he was signed by the UFC in 2018 despite Dana White always stating that there was “no bouncing back” from hitting a woman, instantly garnered some bad publicity for the promotion.
Evidently, the UFC hoped that Hardy’s performances inside the octagon would help erase the memories of his checkered past and that the fans would get behind him if he produced some entertaining fights.
However, the opposite has instead been the case. Hardy was widely booed during his octagon debut in January 2019. Despite giving off a relatively humble image during his tenure with the promotion, the fans have simply not bought in.
Greg Hardy booed by UFC fans, looks unimpressive and breaks rule wp.me/p14QSB-bdCk
‘The Prince of War’ remains a villain in the eyes of fans and it seems that nothing he can do inside the octagon will change that. More importantly, unlike the likes of Conor McGregor and Colby Covington, he doesn’t appear to be a villain that fans will pay to see.
With that considered, it’s probably best for the UFC to simply write his signing off as a mistake and let him go regardless of whether he wins or loses against Sergey Spivak this weekend.