Former NFL Star Greg Hardy Set For Pro MMA Debut With UFC

A former NFL star with a checkered past attempting to make his name in MMA could do that in the UFC octagon this summer.

According to a report from MMA Fighting confirming an initial report by MMA Today, controversial ex-Carolina Panther and Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy will make his professional debut on June 12’s edition of Dana White’s “Tuesday Night Contender Series” event from Las Vegas, where he’s set to meet Brandon Sayles.

Since he was effectively blacklisted from the National Football League (NFL) following a series of concerning odd-the-field incidents (or maybe it was his precipitous drop-off in play from a Pro Bowl 2013 season), Hardy has reinvented himself as a fighter at Florida’s American Top Team (ATT) and has won all three of his amateur bouts by some form of knockout, all in under two minutes.

He’ll look to continue that rise against Sayles, who has won three straight bouts himself to sit at 5-1 in his fighting career.

Hardy has definitely used his athleticism and power to make a smooth transition to MMA thus far, but his sordid history including a vicious 2014 domestic violence arrest where he allegedly slammed an ex-girlfriend on a stack of assault rifles on his bed and a cocaine arrest the following year have followed him around outside of sports.

With domestic violence issues following the UFC around and shining a negative light on several fighters, it seems like a risk to take on such a polarizing figure, but they are apparently willing to forego the risk in order to get a possible star building.

Will it pay off for them?