No matter what you think of him as an individual, Greg Hardy is certainly making a name for himself in the sport of MMA. Standing at 6’5 260lbs he was bound to make big headlines however, many were still skeptical even after his first three amateur fights that ended in KO victories. It wasn’t until Dana Whites Contender Series last night where Hardy KO’d ex-NFL player Austen Lane in 57 seconds in which the casual MMA fans crept out of the sewers to hop on the hype train. Rumors suggest that Dana White wants Hardy to fight in two months at the Contender Series Finale before he fights a main opponent in the UFC. As for now fans can only wait. Even if Hardy knocks out his next opponent in 10 seconds it would not really serve any new purpose, other than confirmation that he could probably stand with the top 5-10 UFC Heavyweights, and potentially win.
Many heavyweights would obviously enjoy fighting Hardy, considering his past, and the crowd it would pull. Derek Lewis has been very vocal about Hardy and seems to be the logical opponent, However, he is fighting Francis Ngannou at UFC 226, which some could possibly see Hardy fight either one of them, but that’s only if the hype train is so great that Dana White decides to make a money fight. Even if Hardy doesn’t have enough experience to “deserve” such a fight, it would draw a large crowd and more than likely end with a KO stoppage. In my opinion, Hardy will have to go through the ranks before he gets to that point, but casual fans have asked for many things, and Dana White might actually give it to them.