Greg Hardy Suffers Nasty Finger Injury, Withdraws From UFC 270

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Viewer discretion is advised for the image of Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Greg Hardy at the bottom of this article.

Per his Instagram on Friday, Hardy (7-4, 1 NC) has suffered a gruesome finger injury that will keep him out of action for the near future. Hardy was expected to face Sergey Spivak (13-3) at UFC 270, with an opponent in Spivak stepping in on short notice to replace Alexey Oleynik on Thursday. The timetable for Hardy’s return is currently unknown, as are the plans for the promotion to seek another replacement fighter or pull the matchup altogether.

Hardy was aiming to put an end to a two-fight knockout skid at the hands of Marcin Tybura at the end of 2020 and Tai Tuivasa in July 2021. The much-maligned football star posts a career knockout rate of 86% as a pro, while putting away Maurice Greene, Juan Adams and Dmitry Smoliakov inside the Octagon. Hardy’s UFC tenure has come with a fair bit of controversy, as his debut ended by disqualification when he illegally kneed Allen Crowder in the head to end the match. A few fights later, Hardy had a decision win over Ben Sosoli overturned to a no contest due to Hardy using an inhaler between rounds.

Spivak took the fight on extremely short notice, replacing Oleynik after Oleynik was forced out for undisclosed reasons. It is unclear if Spivak will face Hardy at a later date, or if the past fight between Oleynik and Hardy will be put back together. “The Polar Bear” was also looking to get back in the win column, as his last outing against Tom Aspinall did not go his way in September, succumbing to strikes at the midpoint of the opening round. Since joining the roster in 2019, the Moldovan has claimed victories over names including Tuivasa, Carlos Felipe as well as Oleynik.

UFC 270 will be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan 22, and the headliner of Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane for the unified heavyweight strap remains intact. The co-main attraction brings a flyweight championship trilogy battle when Brandon Moreno puts his belt on the line against ex-champ Deiveson Figueiredo. Also drawing a main card assignment is a welterweight scrap between Michel Pereira and UFC debutant Andre Fialho.

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