WBC champion and Bellator fighter Hardy gave an educated assessment of Conor McGregor’s boxing crossover
Hardy, who was successful in her Bellator MMA debut in June, is also the (undefeated) WBC super featherweight and bantamweight champion.
The 35-year-old spoke to Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, giving a frank assessment of the McGregor vs. Mayweather bout on Aug. 26:
“I ain’t knockin’ [McGregor]. He’s making $100 million. He did something right now, so I can’t say one thing or the other about him. I can say [his open workout] looks a little silly though. I think [the fight with Mayweather] is great. So many guys are like, I refuse to watch, it’s terrible for boxing. It’s like an event. It’s like when the Yankees and the Mets play each other. It doesn’t matter. None of the stats count towards their end of the year stats. The win or loss doesn’t count, but all New Yorkers can’t wait to go see the Subway Series. It’s like an exciting thing for fans but this will never mean anything. To me, this will never mean anything.”
Hardy also gave her opinion on how observers can expect a Mixed Martial Artist to fare if they decide to cross over to the world of boxing:
“I’ve been in the gym with top, top MMA fighters. […] They don’t know what they’re doing in regards to boxing. Boxing for MMA, I’m seeing different things then boxing for boxing. It’s not right or wrong, because whatever they’re doing for boxing is working for their career in MMA but if they were to apply to boxing, I mean, what’s the biggest thing? I have yet to really see an MMA fighter who moves their head. Who gets their head out of the way. So, when you look at MMA fighters who have all these knockouts with the 4oz gloves, which again are much, much, smaller and harder than a big padded boxing glove, they’re hitting a guy who’s not moving their head.”
