Heavyweights
Greg
Hardy (5-1) vs. Ben Sosoli
(7-2, 1 N/C)
Odds: Hardy (-265), Sosoli (+225)
It's time for another Hardy fight. Having been shunned from the NFL for domestic violence and generally outliving his usefulness, the UFC welcomed Hardy with open arms, and they're about the only ones. Hardy has his defenders, but at the same time, there's not anyone who seems all that excited to watch Hardy fight, just those who want to argue for his right to do so.
Anyway, Hardy's UFC debut against Allen Crowder was a legitimately terrible performance that saw Hardy get frustrated before hitting an illegal knee to get disqualified, but he's rebounded with two wins; the Dmitrii Smoliakov contest was as easy a matchup as they come, but the Juan Adams fight did at least confirm that rushing after Hardy is the wrong way to approach things, as even a massive wrestler like Adams found himself neutralized and hit repeatedly until the referee ended things. Hardy was initially slated for next week's Singapore card, which led to some thought that the UFC was over the Hardy experiment and burying him on overseas cards, but some late shuffling gives him another prominent spot here.
Australian newcomer Ben Sosoli will be willing to stand and trade with Hardy, and that could still earn him the win, ill-advised as it would be; Sosoli looks durable and Hardy's bullying mentality has been shown to wilt at the first sign of resistance, so Sosoli should be able to take over if he can survive the initial few exchanges. But Sosoli is absolutely there to be hit, and if nothing else, Hardy can do that. The pick is Hardy via first-round knockout.
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