Greg Hardy will square off against an unbeaten heavyweight at UFC Columbus
Greg Hardy’s first fight of 2020 is set. Former NFL star turned UFC heavyweight Hardy will face Yorgan De Castro at UFC Columbus. The event is set to take place at UFC on ESPN 8 on March 28 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
More details here: https://t.co/GvBQH7HnkT
— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 27, 2019
Hardy fought five times in 2019 going 2-2 with 1 no contest inside the octagon. Last time out he lost against Alexander Volkov after accepting a late notice fight with the 38-fight veteran. Despite the Russian being his first true step up Hardy handled himself well and made the final bell. Prior to that he had picked up a unanimous decision win over Ben Sosoli. However, that result was changed to a NC due to Hardy’s illegal use of an inhaler between rounds. That fight snapped a 2-fight win streak which saw the former professional footballer knockout out Juan Adams and Dmitry Smolyakov. Those wins came after he lost his first UFC fight in controversial circumstances. Hardy was disqualified when facing Allen Crowder for kneeing his downed opponent. The 31-year-old ends the year with a MMA record of 5-2 (1NC).
Yorgan De Castro will be the man facing off with Hardy on March 28. The 32-year-old unbeaten heavyweight boasts a record of six wins without loss. He is the first UFC fighter ever from Cape Verde after impressing Dana White on the Contender Series. De Castro nailed his opponent Alton Meeks with a nasty leg kick which dropped him to the mat before following up with ground strikes to get the first-round finish. That earned him a UFC contract and he continued to impress on his octagon debut. The undefeated De Castro nailed Justin Tafa with a picture-perfect right hand to put him to sleep and earn a walk off KO victory. He’ll look to make it seven straight wins when he faces Hardy in Columbus early next year.
The UFC also announced two more fights for the card in Columbus. First was a light heavyweight bout between Khalil Rountree Jr and Sam Alvey. They also told media that bantamweights Louis Smolka and Davey Grant will square off on the card.
