Greg Hardy is getting his step-up in competition.
Many fans have been wondering when the former NFL star would be fighting a ranked opponent, and that will happen on Nov. 9 in Moscow, Russia. After Junior dos Santos pulled out of his fight against Alexander Volkov, the UFC was searching for a replacement and has now found one in Greg Hardy. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke the news on Twitter.
“Breaking: “When is Greg Hardy going to take a step up in competition?” The answer is Nov. 9, as he’s agreed to replace Junior dos Santos against Alexander Volkov in Moscow. According to Hardy’s agent Malki Kawa, this was at his request,” Okamoto tweeted.
Greg Hardy is coming off of a controversial no-contest to Ben Sosoli at UFC Boston. He won the fight by decision but used an inhaler in between rounds so it was ruled a no-contest. Before that, he knocked out Juan Adams and Dmitrii Smoliakov. In his UFC debut, he landed an illegal knee and was disqualified. He is currently 5-1 with one no-contest in his career.
Alexander Volkov, meanwhile, has not fought since UFC 229 when he was knocked out to Derrick Lewis. The Russian was on a six-fight winning streak before that which included wins over Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum.
This will be Greg Hardy’s fifth UFC fight this year. According to Okamoto, this bout will serve as the co-main event. Calvin Kattar vs. Zabit Magomedsharipov will be the main event but given the short-notice, will be a three-round fight.
