UFC color commentator Joe Rogan didn’t think much of former NFL player Greg Hardy’s debut inside the Octagon a couple of weeks ago.
After earning a pair of devastating knockouts on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, the controversial ex-football player was given a UFC contract and a co-main event slot on the first ever card on ESPN+.
The result was disastrous for whatever plans the UFC had for Hardy as he was disqualified after throwing and landing an illegal knee strike at opponent Allen Crowder, who was unable to continue after absorbing the blow.
Prior to the ending, Hardy was already showing signs of slowing down after he went to the second round for the first time in his career following a string of first round knockouts.
Rogan admonished the performance when speaking on his podcast recently when Hardy’s name was brought up by retired UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub.
“How’d that go? How’d that work out? Terrible. It was a joke,” Rogan said about Hardy’s performance. “I knew that guy was fading quick.
“He’s fading, I don’t like the way he’s stepping, he looks exhausted, he tired out quick, then he hit that dude with the illegal knee.”
Hardy was disqualified, which now stands as the first and only loss on his professional record and he later apologized for the illegal strike while saying he absolutely did not intentionally throw the knee while Crowder was still down on the mat.
Either way, Hardy left the Octagon that night with a loss on his resume.
UFC president Dana White has said that he will give Hardy at least another fight in the promotion regardless of the result of his first fight ending in a disqualification.
There’s no word yet how quickly the UFC will rush to put Hardy back inside the cage but it’ safe to assume that Rogan will be keeping a close eye on his progression.
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