Former UFC fighter and ex-NFL star Greg Hardy ended up on the wrong side of a boxing highlight reel again.
At Fight Club REN TV Super Series in Moscow, Russia, Hardy took on Aleksei Papin. The fight was scheduled for six three-minute rounds, but it didn’t last that long.
With about 90 seconds remaining in the third round, Hardy was rocked badly with clean punches, and ultimately sent crashing to the canvas.
Check out video of the highlight moment below:
💣HUGE KO
World Ranked Cruiserweight Aleksei Papin scores a brutal Round 3 KO over former UFC fighter Greg Hardy in Moscow pic.twitter.com/jOsQoTnMmw
— Tokkerū (@ATokkers5) December 13, 2024
Since exiting the UFC after a TKO loss to Serghei Spivac at UFC 272 in March 2022, Hardy has been competing in exhibition and professional boxing bouts. He has picked up some wins, but has also been on the wrong end of a few devastating knockouts.
Hardy also tried bareknuckle boxing once, but was knocked out by Josh Watson at BKFC KnuckleMania 3.
Shortly after the fight, Hardy posted a statement on Instagram:
“I came to Russia Alone on short notice to fight a monster with 18 wins and tested my metal. Got two knock downs and went toe toe. I don’t take easy fights, I don’t fight fake fights I fight real killers and sometimes the price is high but I will pay it to become the best no ? Thank you to everyone that helped me get to this point.”
Check out a full replay of the fight in the video above.