Former NFL player Greg Hardy announced he will be making his professional boxing debut. The 33-year-old said he will have his debut on October 8 this year. The news comes fresh from his release from the UFC.
Greg Hardy will compete in his first professional boxing match for Black Sheep Boxing promotions in Delray Beach, Florida. ‘Prince of War’ is confirmed to box on October 8. However, they still haven’t confirmed his opponent and the number of rounds.
Recently, Greg Hardy took to his Twitter account to announce his boxing debut. He uploaded a picture of himself wearing a pair of boxing gloves.
“When you got the dream locked in your sights and all you gotta do is pull the trigger.” Hardy wrote in the caption.
Grag Hardy started to play American football in 2010 within Carolina Panthers and in 2018 he signed with the American Arena League. In 2017, Hardy already showed his interest in mixed martial arts. He won three MMA amateur bouts before making it to the Dana White’s Contender Series in June 2018 in a heavyweight bout.
The decision to sign Hardy came after some backlash considering he had been in a domestic dispute – On May 13, 2014, Hardy was arrested for assault and communicating threats, after he was alleged to have assaulted an ex-girlfriend by grabbing her, throwing her into furniture, strangling her, and threatening her life. He was found guilty – but then appealed. After he settled with the victim out of the court she failed to testify at the appeal and the court dismissed the charges against him.
After winning another 2 fights, Hardy finally joined the UFC against Allen Crowder. His first UFC bout didn’t go as planned as he was disqualified after delivering an illegal knee. Hardy continued to compete in the UFC, fighting the likes of Alexander Volkov, Yorgan De Castro, and Tai Tuivasa.
He suffered 3 consecutive losses in his last UFC fights. Following a technical knockout loss against Sergey Spivak at UFC 272 back in March, the UFC decided to not re-sign his contract. Hardy then departed with the UFC and is now a free agent.
UFC officials confirmed the news to ESPN MMA that Hardy has been removed from the UFC’s internal roster. They also indicated that Hardy is unlikely to be re-signed.
Greg Hardy still hasn’t given up and would find other opportunities.
“What a run, ya boy is far from done just got some fine tuning to do. Thank you to all my fans and haters. I appreciate you all. Mostly I appreciate my coaches, family, and the [UFC] for giving me the opportunity to shine bright.” Hardy wrote on Instagram.