Former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy will make his professional debut as an MMA fighter on June 12 against former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Austen Lane, the UFC announced Saturday night.
Former NFL DEs Greg Hardy, Austen Lane will fight in an MMA bout for a chance at the UFC
Austen Lane and Greg Hardy will fight June 12 with the winner possibly earning a contract with the UFC.
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
The two former NFL players will face each other in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series (DWTNCS). The series was launched in 2017 by UFC president Dana White as a way to scout and showcase talent on the verge of earning a contract with the UFC.
In the first season of DWTNCS, 16 of the 40 winners during the eight-week series earned UFC contracts and another two made their UFC debuts within months of their fight. So there’s a good chance for either Hardy or Lane to make a jump to MMA’s most elite competition with a win.
For Lane, that climb would come after a strong start to his professional career in the sport. After three years with the Jaguars, Lane had brief stints with the Chiefs, Lions, and Bears before retiring after the 2014 season with 17 career starts and three sacks. Before retiring from the NFL, Lane was already doing jiu-jitsu tournaments and preparing for a career in MMA.
“It was probably frowned upon because of risk of injury,” Lane told SB Nation. “When I won them I couldn’t accept the cash prizes. I’d just sneak out the back door and say ‘Hey, sorry I can’t accept anything like that.’ So when I was with my last team in Chicago, I kind of knew what I was going to do next and that was MMA for sure.”
After six amateur fights, Lane made his pro debut in April 2017 and has since racked up a 4-0 record with four first-round knockouts.
His opponent, Hardy, was a more accomplished NFL player, but comes into the June fight much more inexperienced in MMA. The fight will be his professional debut after three amateur fights that all ended with first-round knockout victories for Hardy.
Hardy was a Pro Bowler for the Panthers in 2013 when he set a franchise record with 15 sacks. But in July 2014, he was found guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend. He appeared in just one game in 2014 and spent the rest of the year on the commissioner’s exempt list.
The case was later dismissed during Hardy’s appeal due to the unavailability of the alleged victim. He was released by the Panthers and later signed to a one-year deal with the Cowboys with whom he served a four-game suspension and appeared in 12 games in 2015. It was his last appearance in the NFL and he was arrested in September 2016 for possession of cocaine.
The opportunity for Hardy to potentially earn a spot in the UFC with a victory over Lane has understandably been met with controversy.
“I’m one of those guys too who believes that we’re all human beings and we all make mistakes,” Dana White said in October 2016 when asked about Hardy. “And when you make a mistake, you pay your penance, whatever it might be, and you should be allowed to make a living and move on in your life. Is he good enough to come into the UFC and fight? I highly doubt it.”
In recent years, MMA has been an increasingly viable career alternative for football players who had brief careers in the NFL that fizzled. But the closest the UFC has had to two former NFL players meeting was a 2013 fight between Brendan Schaub, who spent time on the Bills’ practice squad, and Matt Mitrione, who appeared in nine games with the Giants. Schaub also fought former Buccaneers defensive end Marcus Jones in an exhibition fight in 2009.
The June 12 fight between Hardy and Lane — while not technically in the UFC — is a rare match between two players who each started NFL games. It will be broadcast exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, an online streaming service that requires a subscription.
