Former NFL star Greg Hardy has had an interesting start to his mixed martial arts career, but he will have another opportunity to put his skills on display this weekend — Saturday, November 9 — against Alexander Volkov in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN+ 21 in Moscow, Russia.
Hardy accepted the fight on just 18 days notice after former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos was forced to pull out of the fight.
“This was Greg’s idea,” Hardy’s manager, Malki Kawa said at the time, via MMAjunkie.com. “He trains with Junior Dos Santos at American Top Team and saw that he was sick. He called me up and asked what I thought about him fighting Volkov. I actually didn’t like the fight for him. I thought maybe it was too soon, but Greg wants to step up in competition. He thinks he can go to Moscow and knock him out, and he wanted to help the promotion, which is exactly what he did.”
Despite the short notice, Hardy is confident and ready to go out and put on a show for the fans. And if his comments at the open workouts are any indication, we can expect a war when the former defensive end returns to the cage.
“I wanted to hold it down for the UFC,” Hardy told the fans after his open workout. “And when somebody like Volkov calls – a legend like that, man, such a dynamic striker – me being ‘The Prince of War’, you’ve got to answer.
“They should expect a whole lot of war. I love Russia. You guys are awesome. Sick country, man. I love you guys! And expect war, man. A whole lot of blood, a whole lot of fun, and a show!”
https://youtu.be/7JKQOq-N_ZM
Get your popcorn ready, because it looks like we are in for a fun fight.
The main card of UFC on ESPN+ 21 at CSKA Arena will kickoff of 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+. In the main event, featherweight contenders Zabit Magomedsharipov and Calvin Kattar will go toe-to-toe. The preliminary card will get underway bright and early at 11:00 a.m. ET.
A full look at the fight card for this weekend’s event can be seen below.
UFC on ESPN+ 21 Fight Card
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4iJ9AHpB62/
Main Card (ESPN+, 2:00 p.m. ET)
- 145 lbs.: Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Calvin Kattar
- 265 lbs.: Greg Hardy vs. Alexander Volkov
- 170 lbs.: Zelim Imadaev vs. Danny Roberts
- 205 lbs.: Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ed Herman
- 170 lbs.: Ramazan Emeev vs. Anthony Rocco Martin
- 205 lbs.: Shamil Gamzatov vs. Klidson Abreu
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 11:00 a.m. ET)
- 205 lbs.: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
- 155 lbs.: Rustam Khabilov vs. Sergey Khandozhko
- 185 lbs.: Roman Kopylov vs. Karl Roberson
- 170 lbs.: Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. David Zawada
- 135 lbs.: Grigorii Popov vs. Davey Grant
- 135 lbs.: Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Pannie Kianzad
- 155 lbs.: Vinc Pichel vs. Alexander Yakovlev
*Fight card and bout order subject to change.