UFC newcomer Greg Hardy has received a ton of flack for his illegal knee at UFC Fight Night 143 in Brooklyn last weekend, which earned him a disqualification in his UFC debut. While the move drew condemnation from fans and media alike - many whom immediately labeled Hardy a cheater - one person who doesn't think knee was intentional was its recipient - Allen Crowder.
Crowder earned the win due to Hardy's disqualification and expressed no hard feelings about it when appearing on
The MMA Hour. In fact, he chalked it up to Hardy being inexperienced in the Octagon, suggesting it was a mental lapse due to the "heat of the moment."
“I don’t think he was looking for a way out. I think it’s more inexperience. He’s not been doing this very long. He stepped out to the side. I believe in his mind he thought … I know he knew he’s not allowed to throw that knee with me on the ground. But I think heated up in the heat of the moment, he just forgot for a split second and threw that knee trying to get that finish. He just made a mistake. Another mistake of many mistakes that he makes. But I don’t feel like he was trying to cop out of the fight. He’s a tough dude. I think it was just an inexperience kind of thing.”
Crowder admitted he was stunned from the knee, but revealed that he wanted the fight to keep going; it was the doctors who called it off.
“It more stunned me than anything. I fell back to my back and I knew that he wasn’t allowed to do that. So I was like, alright, I’m gonna take a second, I’m gonna get back up, we’ll be good to go. Then the doctors start running in there and they immediately stop the fight and whatnot.”
Personal issues outside the sport aside, there are questions as to whether Hardy really deserves to fight in the UFC based on skill. Crowder acknowledged that Hardy can be a quality fighter in the UFC, but that it would take a few years and some improvement on his ground game.
“Definitely, he needs to work on his ground game. He ended up using the cage, pushing me off. I made a few mistakes, too. I had a little ring rust. There was a lot of little things going back and looking, I should have done this, should have done this. I could have ended the fight there. That’s just part of the game, I guess.
“I wanted to show he wasn’t ready for the UFC yet. I feel like I’ve done that, I feel like I showed he wasn’t experienced. I showed that he still has work to do on the ground. He’s a strong guy, he got backup. Most people, when I get them on the ground they don’t get back up.”
What's next for Hardy remains to be seen, but Dana White remains committed to his work in progress. Despite his past troubles, which include a domestic violence case, Hardy is a big name and the UFC probably thinks he's worth keeping around for at least a little while longer.