Greg Hardy: 5 interesting things you need to know about the UFC Heavyweight
Greg Hardy will be stepping inside the cage for the second time this year to fight Maurice Greene at UFC Fight Night 181 this Saturday night.
The former Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series contender is also a former NFL player and played defense for the Carolina Panthers from 2010 to 2014 and Dallas Cowboys in 2015.
Greg Hardy changed his profession and started training to pursue a career in mixed martial arts in 2016. In his last outing at UFC 249 in May, Greg Hardy defeated Yorgan De Castro via unanimous decision. Before that, he dropped a decision against Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 163, making it his second defeat in UFC.
Throughout his professional football and MMA career, Greg Hardy has made headlines for both positive and negative reasons.
Ahead of his Fight Night bout with Maurice Greene on October 31, let’s take a look at 5 things fans need to know about the 32-year-old UFC Heavyweight.
#5 Greg Hardy could have become a Basketball player or a Track & Field athlete
Greg Hardy was a three-sport letterman during his school days at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee, and later at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) where he joined with a football scholarship. His performance in football, basketball, and track earned him a three-star prospect by Rivals, a popular sports news website that focuses on college sports.
He led his team to State Championship in the year 2004 as a junior. He was one of the most promising potential picks for the 2009 NFL Draft, but Greg Hardy returned to Ole Miss for a senior season.
Hardy was an honorable all-state mention as a junior in basketball. He held several records in Track & Field, such as a 47 ft 6 inches top-throw in shot-put, a 4.8-second 40-yard sprint, and a 28-inch vertical jump. As a sophomore, he finished the 200-meter sprint in just 24:04 seconds.
Clearly, Greg Hardy could have easily chosen either of the other two sports and become successful. However, football was always his main sport and that is what he focused on in his professional career.
Greg Hardy was the top prospect for the 2010 NFL Draft, but injuries and few other issues caused his draft stock to fall. He was picked by Carolina Panthers in the sixth round.