UFC veteran Greg Hardy has picked up another win in the boxing ring.
At MF & DAZN: X Series 003 on Saturday, Hardy shared the ring with Hasim Rahman Jr. for a four-round pro boxing bout. The fight reached the final bell, but Hardy, who weighed in at 320 pounds, 94 pounds heavier than Rahman Jr., nearly ended the fight early.
The event took place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and aired on DAZN.
The size advantage was very apparent from the beginning, and Hardy used that to his advantage by controlling the center of the ring. Rahman Jr. circled on the outside while picking his shots well, and landed a very nice left hand to get Hardy’s attention. Despite the size disadvantage, Rahman Jr. started this one well.
However, in the second round things changed. After both men seemingly emptied the tank, Hardy landed a well-timed counter right hand that sent Rahman Jr. to the canvas.
Check out video of the knockdown below (via Twitter):
WHAT. A. ROUND. 😳@MisfitsBoxing | https://t.co/fmB3r56sQV pic.twitter.com/gC24pig6Dz
— MF & DAZN X Series (@MF_DAZNXSeries) November 20, 2022
Rahman Jr. returned to his feet to beat the count, and ended up landing a big punch of his own before the end of the round.
The second round was the most action-packed of the fight, as the tempo slowed over the final two rounds. Although Rahman Jr. landed a few nice punches and combinations, he couldn’t do enough to win the final frames.
The judges turned in identical scores of 39-36 in favor of Hardy, who notches his second pro boxing win.
“No camp, no Fs given, I’m ready for anybody,” Hardy said during his post-fight interview. “Give me some notice, let me lose some weight, I’ma hurt everybody. This is my division now.”
Hardy exited the UFC after a first-round TKO loss to Serghei Spivak at UFC 272 in March. He then made the jump to boxing, where he defeated Mike Cook in October, before taking on this short-notice opportunity against Rahman Jr., who was originally set to face former UFC champion Vitor Belfort.