Las Vegas, NV — Shortly before his fight with Maurice Greene at UFC Vegas 12 on Saturday, Greg Hardy’s controversial past caught up with him.
Just after Hardy (7-2, 1NC) had finished off Greene with a second-round TKO, his manager, Malki Kawa, released a vague statement on social media that read “and to think, that fight was almost cancelled two hours ago.”
The former NFL star elaborated on that statement following the fight, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. Without going into specifics, he alleged that he’d been victim of an extortion attempt connected in some way to his prior domestic violence case.
“Some people from my past, coming to extort me, put me in crazy situations, try to take food out of my family’s mouth. Just a lot of outside circumstances going on,” he said of what led to his fight almost being yanked last-minute from the UFC Vegas 12 card. “I was breaking down in my bathroom before I even started the fight. I was in tears trying to figure out how I was going to function and if I could go in.”
Asked specifically if the people involved were linked to the past controversy that has always dogged him, which saw him convicted of assault on a female prior to charges being thrown out on appeal, Hardy confirmed it was. ” Yeah. It was just a lot of drama, people trying to take advantage of my situation,” he added.
“A lot of past stuff, just coming back, trying to prey on me,” he continued, going on to maintain his innocence. “You guys know me by now, I would have jumped off a building, did some crazy TO [Terrell Owens] stuff if I was that guy you’re always talking about. I’m not. Never will be. I’m a good guy, been a good guy, innocent man, always have been. And when people come back and they try to prey and take advantage of somebody that’s coming back and redeeming and regaining, it kind of messes with my head. Especially because they sprung it on me, literally in the middle of me going going to fight for my life.”
Whether he knew something was amiss or not, Hardy began releasing his side of the assault story via social media this week. That includes part of a witness transcript, and a dash cam recording of a police officer speaking to the victim in the case.
Hardy insisted that what he posted was evidence. “Other people’s words, never my own. Because you would never believe me. And that was the problem. The hate against me was so loud that you would never have believed me. I’ve been telling you the same thing, literally, from day one. From the very beginning I’ve said the same exact thing.”
Noting that his family was now safe even if his career and financial situation were not, the heavyweight explained that his decision to open up on the incident was out of a desire to clear his name, which his son and daughter carry. Not to mention a younger brother, who also has dreams of a career as a professional athlete.
“Everybody wants to be judged in the court of law by a jury of their peers, and have their chance. And I didn’t get that,” exclaimed Hardy. “I got executed by Instagram. I’m an innocent man that was never proven guilty, never called guilty, never anything, not even close. And I was executed in the public.”
Hardy was convicted of both assaulting a female and communicating threats by a judge in 2014. He would go on to appeal, requesting a trial by jury. But when the time came, the victim never appeared to testify. Prosecutors stated in court that Hardy had reached a deal with his accuser, although they went to extraordinary measures to secure her testimony, including putting her home address and place of business under surveillance.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 12 post-fight press conference with Greg Hardy above.
