Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC 272, we will see a battle of heavyweights. Former NFL star Greg Hardy (7-4, 1 NC) returns to the octagon as he takes on the veteran grappler, Sergey Spivak (13-3).
For Hardy, this will be the final fight on his current UFC contract. There’s no word quite yet whether or not the promotion will bring him back. Currently, he’s on his first losing streak since he’s been with the UFC.
The last time we saw him was at UFC 264 when he took on Tai Tuivasa. Hardy rocked Tuivasa in the first round but rushed in carelessly and got knocked out. That was on the heels of a TKO loss to Marcin Tybura where Hardy gassed out being forced to grapple.
This is something that could really hurt him at UFC 272 against Sergey Spivak. Spivak came into the UFC unbeaten and immediately lost two out of three fights. However, he really turned things around and won three fights in a row. That led him to a fight against Tom Aspinall that he dropped late last year.
UFC 272 Prediction
To me, this entire fight is going to be decided in the first couple of minutes. Will Greg Hardy be able to land a big bomb or is Sergey Spivak going to take him right down. That’s what it’s going to come down to at UFC 272.
The most dangerous part of the fight for Sergey Spivak is going to be the opening minutes. Expect Greg Hardy to come out fast and strong looking for the knockout. When he does land, he lands viciously.
For Spivak, he’s going to need to evade and look for Hardy to overextend and land takedowns. Something tells me that he’s going to be able to get that done. While Hardy definitely has the power to hurt Spivak, I don’t think he’s going to land that big shot.
I think Spivak is going to end up landing takedowns and he’s going to stop Hardy who will ultimately gas from the grappling. Think of this like another Marcin Tybrua fight with Spivak winning at UFC 272.
Prediction: Sergey Spivak by TKO – Round 2