Greg Hardy Talks about Support He’s Received from Rachael Ostovich, Other Women at ATT
With another dominant win, this time over Juan Adams
at UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio, the MMA career of
Greg
Hardy continues to take off. Despite his performance, however,
the former NFL defensive end still faces heavy criticism from the
public regarding his domestic violence past.
Hardy currently trains out of American Top Team in Florida, which is home to some high-profile female MMA fighters including Amanda Nunes and Rachel Ostovich, the latter a victim of domestic violence involving her former husband.
In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, the “Prince of War”
claimed that both Nunes and Ostovich have been very supportive of
him since his transition into MMA, and spoke about what their
acceptance means to him.
“Oh yeah, man [it means a lot to have support from Rachael],” Hardy said. “Even when I met her and the way she handled it, and her situation, having cool people like her, Amanda Nunes, Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] in our gym, Kayla [Harrison], there’s a lot of young to veteran fighters -- female wise -- that always give me support, that are always super cool with me. They are giving me the opportunity to just get to know me and judge for themselves. It’s meant so much to me and it has helped me get over a lot of those crazy days, crazy humps.”
Hardy’s career under the UFC didn’t start as planned, as he became fatigued in his debut fight against Allen Crowder and landed an illegal knee which gave Crowder the win via disqualification. The 30-year-old’s second appearance was much more convincing, a first-round knockout of Dmitry Smoliakov back in April.
Hardy believes a combination of his exciting fights as well as the work that he’s been putting in with the fans has him in a more positive light in the eyes of the public.
“It’s been good,” Hardy said. “I wouldn’t say I’m winning people over but I think people are actually getting the chance to know me. They’re getting to know the actual Greg Hardy, seeing me out in public, seeing me interact with the fans. There are people more on my side. I think I’m entertaining a lot of the world and I think people are being [more] accepting, giving me the chance to prove -- not just forgiving me or this, that and the other -- but just giving me the chance to prove who I am.”
Hardy currently trains out of American Top Team in Florida, which is home to some high-profile female MMA fighters including Amanda Nunes and Rachel Ostovich, the latter a victim of domestic violence involving her former husband.
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“Oh yeah, man [it means a lot to have support from Rachael],” Hardy said. “Even when I met her and the way she handled it, and her situation, having cool people like her, Amanda Nunes, Joanna [Jedrzejczyk] in our gym, Kayla [Harrison], there’s a lot of young to veteran fighters -- female wise -- that always give me support, that are always super cool with me. They are giving me the opportunity to just get to know me and judge for themselves. It’s meant so much to me and it has helped me get over a lot of those crazy days, crazy humps.”
Hardy’s career under the UFC didn’t start as planned, as he became fatigued in his debut fight against Allen Crowder and landed an illegal knee which gave Crowder the win via disqualification. The 30-year-old’s second appearance was much more convincing, a first-round knockout of Dmitry Smoliakov back in April.
Hardy believes a combination of his exciting fights as well as the work that he’s been putting in with the fans has him in a more positive light in the eyes of the public.
“It’s been good,” Hardy said. “I wouldn’t say I’m winning people over but I think people are actually getting the chance to know me. They’re getting to know the actual Greg Hardy, seeing me out in public, seeing me interact with the fans. There are people more on my side. I think I’m entertaining a lot of the world and I think people are being [more] accepting, giving me the chance to prove -- not just forgiving me or this, that and the other -- but just giving me the chance to prove who I am.”
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