According to a report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, controversial NFL veteran Greg Hardy will likely be returning to the cage at UFC San Antonio on July 20. Hardy will reportedly meet promising heavyweight prospect Juan Adams, a veteran of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
BREAKING: UFC is finalizing a bout between Greg Hardy and Juan Adams for July 20, San Antonio. Adams has targeted Hardy a lot on social media. Says he "hates" him and uses a #F—GregHardy hashtag. Obviously, a fight he's been looking for. https://t.co/TEtzaooOHW
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 22, 2019
This matchup represents a fairly quick turnaround for both heavyweight fighters.
Greg Hardy last fought in the co-main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale on April 22, when he smashed the grossly outmatched Dmitrii Smoliakov to a first-round TKO win. This win served to separate the controversial heavyweight from a disastrous UFC debut, in which he was disqualified after blasting Allen Crowder with an illegal knee.
Juan Adams, on the other hand, last fought on May 4 on the undercard of UFC Ottawa, where he gave up a hotly contested decision to Canada’s Arjan Bhullar. This setback represented the first loss of Adams’ career. In his next most recent fights, he made a successful UFC debut with a third-round TKO of Chris De La Rocha, and earned a UFC contract by smashing Shawn Teed on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
Juan Adams has been calling for a fight with Greg Hardy for some time, both on social media, using the #FuckGregHardy hashtag, and in interviews.
“Pathetic,” Adams said of Hardy’s UFC debut on a recent episode of BJPENN.com Radio. “It was just ridiculous. It looked like the guy was scared to do anything. I’m not going to say much, but I think it’s ridiculous how they’re trying to push such a poor product on people. The people have spoken like, ‘We don’t want to see that crap. It’s not a good fight, he’s not a good fighter.’ He’s had cans his entire career. The most legit opponent he’s fought was Allen Crowder. Like, c’mon. He’s no world beater.
“Every point in his career, he’s taken the easiest fight available. Every point in my career I’ve taken the best guy available, who the best guy was that’s going to come at me. It shows when we fight. I fight guys on my level on paper that are supposed to be better than me, and I still come out on top. He fights a guy that’s another up-and-comer and gets DQ’d because he’s scared he’s going to lose right away.”
Who do you think will win this fight between Greg Hardy and Juan Adams?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/21/2019.