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Heavyweights
NR | Tai Tuivasa (11-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. NR | Greg Hardy (7-3, 4-3 UFC)ODDS: Tuivasa (-130), Hardy (+110)
It appears that the UFC is sticking by Hardy with his positioning on this card, even after his most recent loss. A former top defensive end, Hardy found himself outside the NFL once his domestic violence issues outweighed his production on the field. From there, he transitioned to mixed martial arts, and the UFC eventually decided to bring him into the fold in a controversial move. The gambit was that Hardy’s notoriety and potential as a prospect would outweigh any negative attention, but that has not really happened; and frankly, if the UFC’s bar for success was that Hardy would become any sort of star, that possibility seems to be out the window. Some embarrassing early performances dulled some of his prospect shine, whether it was a tired Hardy throwing a blatantly illegal knee to get out of his fight against Allen Crowder or using an inhaler between rounds against Ben Sosoli. Beyond that, Hardy has not really brought any sort of excitement or charisma to the proceedings to win over anyone who did not feel like his domestic violence issues should immediately disqualify him from being here. If Hardy was supposed to be a high-upside flier for the UFC, he has instead turned out to be an uninspiring fighter with a high floor. He has enough size, athleticism and command of the basics to buoy him from losing to the bottom half of the UFC’s heavyweight division, but his cardio issues and tendency to crumble late in fights seem ingrained to the point that he is never going to be any sort of realistic title contender. With Hardy making a decent chunk of money compared to the usual mid-tier UFC fighter, it is unclear why the promotion seems to think the juice is still worth the squeeze when it comes to Hardy.
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC 264 live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
At any rate, he will take on Tuivasa, who may or may not be in the process of channeling his considerable potential. A charismatic big man best known for his post-fight “shoeys,” Tuivasa enjoyed a hot start to his UFC career, with two quick knockout wins leading to a decision victory over Andrei Arlovski. That in turn led the UFC to tab Tuivasa as a potential new star in his native Australia, which resulted in “Bam Bam” getting thrown in over his head, as his formless approach led to losing fights against Junior dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov. It looked like Tuivasa might even be in danger of falling out of the UFC after a third straight loss to Sergey Spivak. The result has aged well, as Spivak has since found his footing inside the UFC, but it did expose Tuivasa’s lack of wrestling and difficulty dealing with durable opponents that have a focused approach. That seems to have led to at least a bit of a mental turnaround for Tuivasa, who showed off some clinch work in a quick win over Stefan Struve. However, with the entirety of Tuivasa’s last year and a half of fights consisting of quick victories over Struve and Harry Hunsucker, it is hard to tell exactly how well he is starting to put things together. Hardy figures to be a sitting duck if this fight goes past the first round due to his lack of cardio and Tuivasa’s willingness to set a pace, and it is basically a coinflip as to whether or not that happens. Tuivasa is durable, but Hardy figures to hit him hard and look to wrestle a bit until he tires out. With the “Prince of War” getting the fight he wants early, the pick is Hardy via first-round knockout.
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