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After a highly-active 2019, UFC's up and coming heavyweight sensation Greg Hardy will be returning to the Octagon this weekend for only the second time in 2020.
For his return fight, Hardy will collide with Maurice Greene and will look to build on his impressive resume having already beaten Yorgan de Castro at UFC 249.
Ahead of Greg Hardy's big UFC return this weekend, Sportskeeda had the pleasure of speaking to the former Dallas Cowboys' star as part of the UFC Vegas 12 virtual media day. During the conversation, Hardy spoke of how he aims to regain consistency inside the Octagon, a potential rematch against Alexander Volkov, and his overall growth as a fighter.
Greg Hardy on regaining consistency in the UFC once again
In 2019, Greg Hardy competed 5 times inside the UFC Octagon but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, things have been a lot different for the heavyweight star.
Hardy, who will be competing in just his second fight in comparison to his five fights last year, claimed that he is unhappy with his current schedule and wants to get as many fights as he can under his belt.
"I'm so unhappy with that man, my biggest goal right now is to handle this fight. Of course, Maurice Greene is not a joke, you know he is a very game opponent. So I wanna go out there and handle this fight but after this fight man, I wanna stay as active as possible you know.
"I voiced it a lot in my career that I wanna be the most active fighter. I'm down for this, this is what I do, 16 games a year, this is my style, so I wanna get back to that. You know I wanna break some more records, get back out there and see if I can be the most active heavyweight in the UFC again."
Greg Hardy on the adjustments he had to make to his training due to the pandemic
After being very busy in 2019, Greg Hardy had to make multiple adjustments to his camps due to the Covid-19 pandemic - the most notable of which being putting together a whole new team.
"Oh yeah, we made a lot of adjustments. I moved out the dorm this year, had to get a whole new team, put together my team and figure out how to put together a camp.
"[I was] outside of the only place I've known for two and half years and had to basically maneuver around Covid-19, so it's been a lot of adjustments but you know, I thought they'd make good adjustments and they've been good for my development."
Greg Hardy on a potential rematch with Alexander Volkov
In November of 2019, Greg Hardy faced his toughest competition to date when he agreed to fight surging contender Alexander Volkov.
While the result didn't go Hardy's way in that fight, he only lost by decision. When asked his thoughts on Volkov's latest win at UFC 254, Greg Hardy wasn't hesitant to claim that he'll eventually work his way to a rematch against Drago - a fight he likened to the showdown between Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago in Rocky.
"Those are two good opponents [Volkov and Walt Harris] man. I love watching Walt, I love watching Volkov and its interesting to see assassins moving the way they move. I saw a point in where the Creed and Drago II can happen. You know that's me and him running it back for a ranked spot.
"Of course I gotta do some work, I gotta get a number by my name and take out some people but I was really excited man, I saw my opportunity to get in there and fight the best. You know he's climbing the ladder, he's gonna be at his best, which he is. He came back in a dramatic way and looking like a powerhouse, so I saw me fighting him in about a year. That's what I saw."
Greg Hardy on his grappling improvements and his growth as a fighter in the past year
Almost a year ago, while speaking to The Schmo, Greg Hardy rated himself 4/10 as a grappler. Whereas, as an overall fighter, he gave himself a solid 7. Fast forward to October of 2020, Hardy believes that he has made some improvements as a grappler but still isn't willing to rate himself above a 7 as an overall fighter.
"I'll say my grappling's about 5 and a half, maybe 6. And as a fighter, still a 7. You know, I'm not satisfied enough with my full and complete game to where I can say I'm a 8 or a 9 or a 10.
"Just simply because you know, I cherish those kind of numbers. I cherish the best. I hold the best in the world at the highest team because I've been there in my own way. I would never go that far as to say that I was something that I'm not, so I think a seven [would] still be where I am as a fighter. Just in a different aspect, you know I've gained ground in a lot of other ways."
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