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#4 UFC Heavyweight Division: Maurice Greene vs. Greg Hardy

Greg Hardy will be looking for his fourth UFC win this weekend.

Arguably the UFC’s most controversial fighter due to his somewhat chequered past, we haven’t seen Greg Hardy in action since UFC 249 – the first of the UFC’s post-COVID-19 shows. That show saw him defeat Yorgan De Castro, but it was hardly an inspiring performance.

Essentially, De Castro was picking The Prince of War apart until the end of the first round, when he broke his foot and seemingly stopped fighting. From there, Hardy was able to outstrike him, taking a tepid decision in what was the show’s lone dull fight.

However, despite his record still being pretty patchy – he’s 3-1 with one No Contest in the UFC – it’s fair to say that Hardy isn’t the worst fighter in the UFC’s Heavyweight division these days. In fact, there’s a lot to like about him in terms of his fighting ability.

One of the best athletes in the division, thanks to his NFL background, Hardy’s speed belies his massive size (6’5” and 260lbs). He can quickly chain combinations together on his feet, and while he doesn’t appear to have the one-shot KO power of someone like Derrick Lewis, he’s definitely capable of knocking opponents out.

And while he had a tendency to wear himself out early on in his first couple of UFC fights, he now appears to be in great shape. He’s gone three rounds in his past three fights, in fact, and wasn’t sucking wind in any of them – even his loss to Alexander Volkov.

The big question mark on The Prince of War surrounds his ground game, and it’s that area that Greene will probably look to test. A product of the 28th series of The Ultimate Fighter, The Crochet Boss is 4-2 in the UFC and has two slick submission wins to his name. Most recently, he tapped out Gian Villante with a pretty impressive arm-triangle choke.

At 6’7” and 255lbs, Greene will actually have some size on Hardy, and judging by his previous UFC fights, he’s not far off being as good an athlete as the former NFL man. However, I suspect that Hardy will still have a speed advantage when it comes down to it, particularly on the feet.

If Greene can get Hardy down, though, who knows? We haven’t really seen Hardy on the mat since his UFC debut, and he didn’t look too hot there in that fight with Allen Crowder. Will he have improved since? Well, probably, but he’s still not likely to be as good on the ground as the surprisingly skilled Greene.

However, given Hardy’s speed and athletic ability, it’s difficult to see a scenario in which Greene can take him down early on in the fight. And if that’s the case, then Hardy should be able to keep him at range, pick at him with his strikes and combinations, and probably wear him down for a decision.

It won’t be pretty and may well end up dull, but I’m going with The Prince of War to pick up his fourth official UFC victory in this one.

The Pick: Hardy via unanimous decision