Greg Hardy’s fighting career is going about as poorly as the final days of his NFL career.
The former first-team All-Pro defensive end got knocked down twice in the 17th round of the Dallas Enforcers Team Combat League fight Friday night, the second one resulting in a knockout to end the fight.
The 34-year-old Hardy got up after the first knockdown, and after going to his corner, went on the offensive when the fight resumed, only to get knocked down by Alexander Flores of the LA Tengoose again seconds later.
While it was Hardy’s first loss in three Team Combat League fights, it’s not his first bad experience in the ring. He lost his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut in February, and in 2022, he lost his final three UFC fights, prompting the UFC to drop him.
Hardy revealed his reaction to Friday’s knockout on Instagram.
“Win some you lose some,” he wrote. “I got sloppy looking for a knockout. Forgot to fight my fight and paid the price against a good boxer.”
Drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Hardy was a feared pass rusher, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2013. But bad behavior derailed his career. In 2014, he was found guilty of assaulting an ex-girlfriend, although he appealed and the judge dropped the case when the victim failed to appear at a later date.
However, that incident led the Panthers to place Hardy on their exempt list, and he did not play again for the team. In 2015, the NFL suspended him for four games. After the Panthers cut ties with him, he played the final 12 games of the 2015 season for the Dallas Cowboys.
Although Hardy played well at times, the Cowboys cut ties with him after the season because of inappropriate tweets and his bad influence on teammates. Hardy launched his fighting career in 2016.
[Fight Lounge; Photo Credit: Team Combat League]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.