Heavyweight prospect Greg Hardy continues to improve in the Octagon. The former NFL superstar's transition to the UFC has come with some bumps along the way, but with each match he continues to evolve.
Coming off a closer than expected loss to Alexander Volkov last November, Hardy faced another tough figher in Yorgan De Castro. The undefeated Castro came out looking for a quick knockout, but Hardy weathered the storm before establishing his jab to answer De Castro's leg kicks. De Castro did land some powerful blows, including multiple leg shots that caused swelling in Hardy's lead leg. However, Hardy took them well and seemed to come alive late in the round, turning the the tables down the stretch.
While effective in limiting Hardy's mobility, the leg kicks seemed to be De Castro's downfall as he appeared to hurt his foot with one of them. With his foot compromised, De Castro's output dropped significantly. The pace now slowed, Hardy went on the offensive and became the busier fighter. Unable to mount an offensive attack, Hardy really opened up in the final frame. De Castro responded momentarily but the counter-attack was short-lived and Hardy continued to dominate the fight. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Hardy.
After the impressive performance, Hardy is now back in the win column with a record of 6-2 with 1 NC. De Castro falls to 6-1.