It wasn’t lost on Greg Hardy that he was the betting underdog heading into his fight against Juan Adams at UFC San Antonio.
The controversial heavyweight proved the betting odds were wrong when he needed just 45 seconds to finish his opponent in the first round. In the post-fight scrum with reporters, Hardy fired back at those who doubted him.
“I feel like saying I told you so,” Hardy said. “I said it was going to happen and it did happen. I’m pretty sure he went to the hospital. So, boom.”
Heading into fight week, many pointed to Adams and the fact he was the superior wrestler on paper as his path to victory over Hardy. But Hardy stuffed his early takedown attempt and then finished him with punches in the first minutes on the fight.
“You guys were super hyped on Juan Adams, saying this is the one who’s going to take me down, and I finished him,” Hardy said. “Whoever they put in front of me again, they’re going to get the same treatment, no matter who it is.”
As far as the stoppage goes, some thought referee Dan Miragliotta may have stopped it early. According to Hardy, though, the veteran ref gave Adams plenty of warning before stepping in and waving off the fight.
“He’s a good opponent. He hit me a couple of times. I don’t doubt he’s a great guy, I don’t know that personally. But he got hit like 30 times,” Hardy said. “The ref said, ‘defend yourself, you gotta do something.’ I kinda felt his body go limp. I was banging on his head so I slowed the pace down to see if he was going to react or do something so I could play defense. When he didn’t I just went in for the finish. Dan gave him plenty of warning.”
Now with back-to-back wins over Dmitry Smoliakov and Adams by first-round knockout, we’ll see if the UFC decides to give Hardy a step up in competition for his next fight. At this point, he looks like a serious heavyweight prospect in the UFC heavyweight division, regardless of what anyone might think of him as a person.
Were you surprised Greg Hardy beat Juan Adams or did the fight go as you thought it would?