Dana White shares his plans for Greg Hardy’s next fight

Greg Hardy’s first-round knockout of Austen Lane, which occurred on this week’s episode of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, earned him a “development” contract with the UFC. Speaking to TMZ this week, Dana White himself shed some light on what this development deal will actually look like, and when we might see Hardy again.

Apparently, White is hoping to have Hardy compete on another episode of the Contender Series in July. In other words, we can expect the UFC to build Hardy up via other avenues before he debuts in the Octagon proper.

“Obviously, he’s got a lot of raw talent, and he’s very powerful, and he looked damn good in his showing at the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series,” White said (transcribed by Milan Ordoñez for BloodyElbow). “So, we signed him to a different type of deal, deals we’ve done with other people where you see some promise, and you give the athletes the opportunity to build themselves up, get better.”

“In a perfect world, what I’d love to do is turn him around and [have him fight] again in the last fight of the Contender Series, the last fight of the season [in July],” White clarified, sharing plans for Hardy’s second pro fight.

White also commented on the ugly domestic violence charge that follows Hardy into the MMA limelight. Despite the fact that there are survivors of domestic violence on the UFC roster, he doesn’t seem too concerned. He’s convinced the former NFL player is a changed man.

“This guy can become Mother Teresa and start healing the sick and doing all kinds of things, this is how he’s always gonna be looked at,” White said. “What I respect about the guy is he did something really bad and horrible. He went through everything you need to go though after you do something disgusting like that. Then he hit rock bottom, picked himself back up, started to work his way up to become not only a better human being but a better athlete.”

”Everything that I see in the guy … he’s changed.”

What do you think the future holds for Greg Hardy?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/15/2018.