UFC on ESPN: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards - Predictions and Picks

#3 Greg Hardy vs. Juan Adams

Juan Adams can end the Greg Hardy experiment with a win this weekend

The great Greg Hardy experiment – pushing the disgraced former NFL star as a major prospect at Heavyweight – should’ve been labelled as a bust after his first fight, a ridiculous DQ loss to Allen Crowder that saw him gas out, get taken down and then lose the plot before hitting Crowder with an illegal knee in the second round.

Somehow though – despite Hardy being roundly booed by every crowd he’s been in front of thus far – the UFC seems content to push through with it, as they booked him in a squash match with Dmitri Smoliakov in April, and sure enough Hardy delivered the goods with a quick TKO over an opponent who looked frankly terrified.

Adams, however, is another kind of beast entirely. He’s been talking up a fight with Hardy ever since he arrived in the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018.

He won his debut fight by TKOing Chris De La Rocha in December, showing some surprising speed and dexterity for a guy who’s 6’5” and 265lbs. Sure, he lost his second fight to Arjan Bhullar, but in all honesty, there’s no shame in being outwrestled by an Olympic level wrestler, and even then there was an argument for Adams deserving the decision.

‘The Kraken’ is an excellent wrestler himself but most of all he’s a power-puncher; it doesn’t really matter to him whether he’s on the ground or on his feet, he’s throwing bombs. While we haven’t seen him hit by someone as powerful as Hardy yet, admittedly, he’s also shown a decent chin when he has been caught by a shot.

Hardy meanwhile has heavy hands but that’s about it right now; his wrestling game looked poor against Crowder and he offered nothing off his back, he blew his gas tank pretty early and his striking defence didn’t look all that good either. And what’s more, he appears to be a bully in the cage, someone who can be made to fold if the fight turns against him.

Hardy might surprise me and take out Adams in a rush; he’s an A-grade athlete after all and may pick up the game quicker than we think, but in reality he’s still a neophyte to MMA and it’s not like Adams is a bad athlete himself, and he’s also got much more experience than Hardy and is a hugely superior wrestler. The fact that he’s been so desperate for this fight should bode well for him, too.

In the end, I think Adams should win this one handily – the most likely outcome, in my opinion, is that he grounds ‘The Prince of War’ early on and simply pounds him out, perhaps getting a simple submission like a choke or a kimura if Hardy decides to give position up entirely. And fingers crossed, that’ll be the end of this experiment.

The Pick: Adams via first round TKO