This week it was announced that Greg Hardy would be getting a quick turnaround in the UFC, facing Juan Adams at UFC on ESPN 4 later this summer. It’s a fight that Hardy reportedly asked for and that’s perfectly okay with Adams. The former Fury FC amateur champion has been taking shots at Hardy for months in the hopes of getting to fight him, and now that his wish has come true, “The Kraken” is pulling no punches when talking about why he dislikes Hardy and why he wanted to face him in the first place.
“There are plenty of components to it,” Adams told Luke Thomas recently. “The domestic violence thing, yeah that’s a really big issue for me. My two issues on that are one, even if he wasn’t convicted of it - technically he’s innocent - he’s done nothing to make up for it. He’s paid no dues for that. His PR team, whatever, he’s going around talking like he’s a changed man [but] he’s done no work with women’s services, none of that. He hasn’t done anything with charities for victims of domestic violence or domestic abuse, none of that. So he’s talking the talk or trying to act like he’s changed but his actions aren’t proving that. His words say one thing, his actions say another. So that’s one issue.”
Adams is hardly the first person to take issue with Hardy’s troubled past. The former NFL Pro Bowl defensive end was convicted of domestic assault in a bench trial in 2014, but the decision was overturned upon appeal. His professional football career never recovered though and he was forced out of the NFL shortly thereafter. The UFC opting to sign a rank amateur with such a troubled past (Hardy has continually denied wrongdoing) drew the ire of the MMA media and a number of fans and remains part of the ongoing conversation around Hardy as he continues in his UFC career.
But that isn’t the only reason Adams wants to fight Hardy. Adams takes issue with Hardy’s entire MMA career up to this point. After Hardy left the NFL, he began training in MMA amassing a 3-0 amateur record that caught Dana White’s eye. After making his pro debut on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Hardy was signed to a developmental contract. Three quick KOs later and Hardy was fighting in the UFC proper, losing by DQ against Allen Crowder after throwing an illegal knee in a fight he was likely losing. Hardy rebounded with a win over Dmitry Smolyakov, an opponent even Dana White was critical of. To Adams, all of that is indicative of the farce Hardy’s UFC path has been so far.
“The other issue I have with him is, you have to understand, he washed out of one sport because of his off the field issues,” Adams said. “He comes into another sport and he doesn’t follow the correct path. Look at his amateur career. He fought a guy that was 44, then he fought a guy that was 42, then he fought a guy that was 37, and then for his pro debut, yeah that guy has a 4-0 or 4-1 record but the guy walked around at 240. So he beats that guy, that guy hasn’t won a fight since then, he then fights a guy that looks like Jabba the Hut, I don’t think that guy has won a fight since then, and his third opponent was another guy that was 6 foot tall and walked around at 240. That’s not a real heavyweight. His opponents have gotten worse until Allen Crowder. Then he fights Allen Crowder and gets disqualified. Then he goes and fights a guy that’s 0-2 in the UFC that they re-signed just so he could beat him. Then he starts talking like he’s Michael Jordan? That’s so dumb.”
After knocking out Smolyakov, Hardy said he was “gonna make Bo Jackson look like a joke” and that he was going to be “the fights sports’ athlete version of what [Michael] Jordan could be.” And despite the fact that many MMA fighters have grandiose dreams of how their careers will go, Adams thinks that aspect of Hardy may be the part he dislikes the most.
“So on top of all those reasons, he’s just stupid on top of all of it,” Adams said. “And the stupidity aspect is really what bothered me more than anything. It really blows my mind and it’s almost incomprehensible how someone can be that delusional and that dumb.”
UFC on ESPN 4 takes place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX on July 20.
MUST-READ STORIES
Results. Lance Palmer, Chris Wade grind out decision wins at PFL 13.
Public. UFC parent company Endeavor files papers to go public.
Fake. Urijah Faber blasts T.J. Dillashaw over USADA suspension and apology.
Sad. Cosmo Alexandre admits he was ‘sad’ after learning extent of Sage Northcutt’s injuries.
VIDEO STEW
The MMA Beat.
Keeping the UFC off TV.
Free fights.
Vitor facts.
Previewing LFA 67.
LISTEN UP
Fights Gone By. Jack Slack discussing ONE’s recent tomfoolery.
The MMA Reporters. Discussing Tony Ferguson, Deontay Wilder, and Brazil.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Hell of a KO.
YOU NEED TO SEE WHAT FOLDED HIM LIKE THAT pic.twitter.com/gONKdPhnSd
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 24, 2019
This fight will be announced any day now.
UNDISPUTED
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) May 23, 2019
Call out.
Hey @TheGreat155 wtf are you doing? Cowboy Cerrone had fought once and he is fighting again! Stop hiding! Get you shit together and sign the contract! See you in Uruguay August 10 @seanshelby @danawhite @ufc @AliAbdelaziz00 @MMAjunkie @MMAFighting @espnmma @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/LSQRuyhllb
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 23, 2019
Congrats.
You know ur getting old when you start making ur way into Hall of Fames, what an honor to be getting inducted into the Tragos/Thesz professional wrestling hall of fame. I’m truly honored to receive this award. (With the big dog my heavyweight Nick Villarreal) @Nick_v147 pic.twitter.com/ETUqydKb4n
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 24, 2019
These are the types of questions we need to be thinking about in MMA.
You think Captain America would get past usada?
— Eryk Anders (@erykanders) May 24, 2019
We also don’t talk enough about median cubital arm veins.
I’m thinking about my next opponent @iamgirlrilla ... she has splendid abs... definitely wins in the abs category, but as you can see, my median cubital arm vein is far more prominent. You’re going down, Liz. I wonder if she’ll see this tweet. #smacktalk #ufc #UFCSanAntonio pic.twitter.com/cNgQUjfvFV
— Roxanne Modafferi (@Roxyfighter) May 24, 2019
Khabib vs. Conor II, brought to you by McGregor Promotions and Khabib Promotions, June 2020.
Khabib Nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) is getting into the promotion business. He’s involved with a card in July, per his manager Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00). Check out the logo on the bottom left. pic.twitter.com/CgMajgps2Z
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 23, 2019
Belal Muhammad helped raise over $30K in honor of his friend.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nick Newell (14-2) vs. Antonio Castillo (10-11); CES 56, May 31.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2008: B.J. Penn knocked out Sean Sherk with a flying knee and punches at UFC 84, solidifying his hold on the lightweight title. In the co-main event, Wanderlei Silva picked up his first win since returning to the UFC, knocking out Keith Jardine in 36 seconds.
2014: T.J. Dillashaw became the UFC bantamweight champion, knocking out Renan Barao with a head kick and punches at UFC 173. In the co-main event, Daniel Cormier secured a title shot against Jon Jones, submitting Dan Henderson with a rear-naked choke.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A rare week with no UFC or Bellator action and it happens to coincide with a U.S. holiday. Enjoy the long, fight free weekend and see y’all on Tuesday.
EXIT POLL
Poll
Who wins?
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it! Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, and like us on Facebook!