Pros react to Greg Hardy defeating Yorgan De Castro at UFC 249
Yorgan De Castro and Greg Hardy squared off in a heavyweight bout at tonight’s UFC 249 event in Florida.
The former Dallas Cowboys player has experienced mixed results in MMA, such as his disqualification loss to Allen Crowder in his UFC debut. He bounced back with two knockout wins against Juan Adams and Dmitri Smoliakov. In his last two performances, Greg Hardy received a no-contest against Ben Sosoli and a unanimous-decision loss against Alexander Volkov in November 2019.
Prior to his UFC 249 bout, the American Top Team prospect suggested he would be making his next career move from MMA to WWE. He also admitted he was “terrified” for his upcoming UFC 249 fight amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Oh I’m terrified, man, but that’s not going to stop me from making sure my boss gets the most entertaining fight on TV out of all sports. It’s the biggest event, you need the biggest athletes,” Greg Hardy said (via SCMP).
His opponent, De Castro made his UFC debut at UFC 243 with a Round 1 TKO win over Justin Tafa on Oct 5, 2019. Like Hardy, the heavyweight fighter relies on his punching power to finish fights. In fact, the 33-year old entered UFC 249 having finished 5 out of 6 fights by TKO. He entered his fight against Hardy with an undefeated 6-0 record.
The heavyweight titans went the distance for three rounds. Castro began by chopping away at Hardy’s left leg with kicks. Hardy made some big adjustments and responded with some hard leg kicks of his own. The pace slowed significantly in the later rounds and Hardy began to outwork Yorgan De Castro who began to retreat and offer little more than feints.
Greg Hardy ultimately claimed the unanimous decision victory and delivered Castro’s first loss of his professional career.
Despite taking the win, “Prince of War” received some heat online. Find out the pro reactions to the Hardy vs de Castro heavyweight collision below.
https://twitter.com/dillondanis/status/1259306385910661120
Good pocket presence by Greg Hardy there, man. For someone with seven pro fights, most of which ended very quickly? He looks very natural in the biggest exchanges.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 10, 2020
De Castro throwing heeeeeeeat!!!
— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 10, 2020
Hardy’s having lots of problems with his lead leg. De Castro’s chin holding up so far
— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 10, 2020
Pace has slowed significantly. Hardy not moving forward as much a De Castro has yet to take advantage of it. Straight punches will force Hardy to move more, which he may not be capable of at this point.
— Anthony Smith (@lionheartasmith) May 10, 2020
De Castro is looking explosive #UFC249
— Kyle Noke (@KyleNoke) May 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/1259308892648923136
De Castro looks like he could be Hardys Step Dad….but I picked him for the upset. #UFC249
— Gerald Harris (@GHurricane) May 10, 2020
Hardy round 1! These guys are throwing some heat.
— Funky (@Benaskren) May 10, 2020
De Castro is doing it all for the short ppl in the world lol. When we can't reach the chin, we dig in with our shin lol #ufc249
— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) May 10, 2020
Yorgin stopped fighting last 2 rounds … hardy should win that
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) May 10, 2020
Greg Hardy has made a lot of technical improvements and had gotten better at utilizing range.
He's gone from a fighter that needed to hunt the knockout to more of a tactician who has gotten better at taking advantage of his size.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 10, 2020
Well, someone’s gonna get knocked out at this rate.
— michael (@bisping) May 10, 2020
I heard a lot of ppl counting out De Castro, but I got to see him fight a few times, and I think he’s a legitimate heavyweight with real technical offensive and defensive skills. He’s showing it here now against a much bigger man in Hardy. DONT BLINK!!
#UFC249— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 10, 2020
De Castro didn’t throw a single strike in like the last 2min of RD 2. He probably hurt his foot by kicking and landing with his toes. #UFC249
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 10, 2020
Hardys leg is done just needs a couple more kicks
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) May 10, 2020
Decastro corner need to tell him to stay on the kicks
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) May 10, 2020
Calf kicks for days #ufc249
— Tim Elliott (@TElliott125) May 10, 2020
What did you think of the performance from Greg Hardy at UFC 249? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!
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Greg Hardy UFC UFC 249
