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Greg Hardy: ‘It’s Time to Make a Statement’ Against Alexander Volkov at UFC Moscow



When Greg Hardy saw that American Top Team training partner Junior dos Santos wouldn’t be able to fight against Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 163, he jumped at the opportunity to step in on short notice.

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“I’m excited. There were a lot of things that played into this decision and the big one was just the opportunity,” Hardy told TMZ Sports. “This is a big time fight, this is high-level competition. This is what any ‘Prince of War’ or future ‘King of War’ could ever hope for. And second of all, just somebody fell down. My teammate went down so somebody’s got to fill in. The next man up had got to fill in and that’s just always been my mentality, to hold it down for the team.”

Hardy has been a lighting rod for controversy thanks to the domestic violence allegations in his past that ultimately led to his release from the NFL. In addition to questions regarding that history, Hardy’s stint in the Octagon has already featured a disqualification for landing an illegal knee against Allen Crowder in his debut and most recently, a win vs. Ben Sosoli that was overturned to a no contest because the former Pro Bowler used an unapproved inhaler between rounds of the UFC Boston bout.

Nonetheless, Hardy feels loyalty to the promotion for signing him and is more than willing help fill a void on an upcoming card.

“The UFC always has my back,” Hardy said. “They took a gamble on me, they let me in the door, so they need somebody to fill in, for sure I’m about to go knock the guy out. The last one, soft Derrick Lewis knocked this dude out. If ‘pillow-hands’ Lewis can do it, for sure I feel like I can go in there and compete and knock this guy out.”

Hardy, who owns TKO wins over Dmitry Smoliakov and Juan Adams in UFC competition, believes he is ready to take a step up in competition. Were it not for the recent no contest, Hardy would be entering the bout on a three-fight winning streak. Hardy is also emboldened by the confidence his coaches at American Top Team have in him.

“A big thing for me, if everybody looks back and remembers, I was going with my team,” Hardy said. “I was going with my gym, I was going with everybody’s decision making and these same guys believe in me, and once I got the belief it’s just like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’

“After this Ben Sosoli guy, he’s supposed to be this huge tough guy and he was, but everybody’s like, ‘Oh he’s a can, give him some competition.’ It’s time. It’s time to make a statement, it’s time to step up and put my mettle to the test as the Prince of War. Stop talking, put the hands up, and fight with an actual monster. Fight with a top-ranked, elite assassin.”

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