Ex-Bellator Fighter Heather Hardy’s Career Likely Over Due to 'Brain Damage'

Heather Hardy’s combat sports career appears to have reached its end.

The former boxing champion and Bellator MMA veteran was preparing for a fight against Christine Ferea in BKFC on May 11, but Hardy struggled with her vision and was unable to eat or sleep as she began her camp. According to Hardy, a visit to the doctor revealed that she had suffered too many concussions over the course of her fighting career and any further head injuries could permanently impair her vision.

Hardy’s full Instagram post on the matter is as follows:

My fight for May 11 is off. After my fight last summer with Amanda [Serrano], my vision remained blurred for a few days. I went for an MRI and to get my eyes checked while I was still in TX and it was diagnosed the after effects of a concussion. 6-8 months i should be fine. So basically I needed a fight, and it never got better. My daughter is in college. Everyone thinks I made millions in my career but i didn’t, i went paycheck to paycheck keeping that kid in the best neighborhood so she could go to the best schools. And i needed to take the fight, so long story short a month into training for Christine and everything got worse with my sight. I was down to 123 pounds because i couldn’t eat, i wasn’t sleeping i was so weak. I hadn’t told anyone how bad it was, not my boyfriend not my coaches. I thought i could make it through the ten minute fight, but after a very light sparring session i couldn’t see shit for two days. I didn’t eat or sleep Friday to Monday, and i knew i was too weak to do this shit. After finally seeing a doctor, he said I’ve had too many concussions. When you have a concussion, a piece of your brain dies and you never get it back. Imagine that? In ten years I’ve had too much brain damage. I can’t get anymore or else I won’t be able to see. No running, no jogging, no jumping rope, and no getting hit in the head.

Hardy did not officially announce her retirement in the post, but her statement at the conclusion of the post seems to indicate that her combat sports career is over.

“So I said the thing,” Hardy wrote. “Ya know what that means.”

Nicknamed “The Heat,” Hardy compiled a 24-3 record with one no contest as a professional boxer — going unbeaten in her first 23 fights — while capturing multiple championship belts along the way. In her most recent appearance, multiple titles were on the line when Hardy dropped a unanimous decision to Serrano in the co-main event of the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz card this past August.

Hardy made a brief foray into MMA from 2017 to 2019, as she compiled a 2-2 mark while competing under the Bellator banner. Ahead of her Bellator debut, Hardy revealed that her earnings with the promotion for that fight would exceed anything she had made in boxing up to that point. Her final MMA appearance came at Bellator 222 on June 14, 2019, where she suffered a first-round TKO loss against Taylor Turner.

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