Nearly a decade after trading football pads for fighting gloves, Greg Hardy is chasing success in MMA. However, his latest outing at Fight Nation Championship 31 on May 30 ended with a knockout defeat.

On Friday, Hardy weighed in at 292.3 pounds, which was more than Darko Stosic, who came in at 239.6 pounds. Even with the high weight disadvantage of over 50 lbs, Stosic willingly took on the challenge and made his dominance.

Stosic beat Hardy in the third round with a thunderous left hook that rocked the former NFL player. He followed up and caught him with a right hand, dropping him on the canvas. 

Stosic followed with ground and pound, and the referee had no choice but to stop the fight at 2:42 of Round 3. That brings Hardy's fourth loss in his last five fights.

After the defeat, Hardy shared a post on Instagram

“So I’m outta here (deleting the app) for a while, guys, in a screenshot of a text message,” Hardy wrote on Sunday. “Not the result I wanted, but proud of myself. I went to war with Serbia’s best.

Hardy's MMA journey has included both highs and lows. After winning his first three fights, he got a spot in the UFC, where he suffered three knockout defeats before his run came to an end.

"Busy being happy, if you need me, I’m with my family, losing weight lol even though I'm a 300lb ninja with top abs lol,” Hardy added.

But long before he transitioned to MMA, Hardy's athletic career began in the NFL, where he played for two teams over six seasons.

A Look Back at Greg Hardy's NFL Career

The Carolina Panthers selected Greg Hardy with the 175th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

He recorded 145 solo tackles and 34 sacks over his five years with the Panthers, but in the 2014 season, his performance fell with his four-game suspension. He also had some off-field issues regarding a female and his ex-girlfriend.

The Panthers refused to sign Hardy because of these issues, and team owner Jerry Richardson publicly stated that the team did not support such behavior. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys signed Hardy in 2014 to strengthen their defensive line, prioritizing their on-field requirements, not the public backlash.

"Ultimately, what we're trying to do is help our football team," former head coach Jason Garrett said.

But he played 12 games for the Cowboys and retired from the NFL due to his off-field issues when no team offered him a contract for the 2016 season. Then he joined MMA.

But that hasn’t fanned out well for him either. He currently has a record of 8 wins and 6 losses.  

Do you think Hardy will change his disappointing match into a winning one in his next appearance? Let us know!

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Written by

Shreya Mishra

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi