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Former NFL star Greg Hardy has a troubling history with domestic violence. But this week at Dana White‘s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Hardy knocked out Austen Lane in 57 seconds, prompting Dana White to sign Hardy to a developmental deal. Given Hardy’s past, that signing has proven highly controversial, not only with fans but with fighters as well, including one up-and-coming young fighter who has been a victim of domestic violence before.
Rising UFC flyweight Jessica-Rose Clark is a survivor of a brutal domestic violence attack and she spoke out against the Hardy signing on a recent edition of the Phone Booth Fighting podcast.
“I had a spate with domestic violence before I moved out here to Vegas,” Clark explained. ”That’s actually why I moved to Vegas. I had my fiance - at the time - arrested on one count of attempted murder and two counts of assault. . .
“He didn’t get convicted. He got a 15-month suspended sentence, still allowed to leave the country. They gave him his second chance and I’m a firm believer that someone who is capable of going as far as he went with me – and I know he’s been further with other women before I met him – he’s not going to change. He can do all the convincing and all the lying in the world and he can convince you that he’s a really good person, but who he is at his core is someone who’s capable and willing to do stuff like that.
“So I am very against Greg [Hardy] being signed because I don’t believe that people like that change.“
Clark was assaulted by her fiance, MMA fighter Julian Wallace, in 2016. Wallace kicked Clark in the head while wearing boots, hit her in the face, kneed her in the ribs, threw her on the ground and choked her before Clark was able to break out of the choke and knock Wallace out with a head kick. Wallace plead guilty to the charges. Hardy’s victim was not as lucky.
In 2014, Hardy was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, throwing her into furniture, choking her, and threatening to kill her. He was found guilty of assault and communicating threats. Eventually the charges were dropped on appeal as the victim failed to appear in court to continue the proceedings. Hardy was suspended for 10 games by the NFL (reduced down to four on appeal) but washed out of the league shortly afterwards after clashing with teammates and coaches. Now, Hardy has moved onto a second career that seems likely to be successful given his athletic abilities but Clark thinks the UFC shouldn’t be a party to it because it just perpetuates the behavior.
“Athletic ability seems to supersede any negative thing you do in your life,” Clark said. “You see it time and time again, like Kobe Bryant. It happens so often and it blows my mind that that’s where our society is at. Like, ‘Oh, he did all these really terrible things, but he’s an amazing athlete, so f**k it, let’s just let him keep going and let him keep making his millions and let him keep being on TV.’ There’s no punishment.
“What stops him from going and doing it to the next girlfriend? I promise you that wasn’t the first girlfriend that he did that to but he didn’t get punished for that one, either. He didn’t get punished for the first one and he didn’t get punished for that one and now he’s going to be televised on one of the largest broadcasts in the world, for one of the most popular sports in the world. Where the f**k is the punishment? What’s stopping him from doing it to every girl that comes into contact with him?”
Jessica-Rose Clark is scheduled to face Jessica Eye in a pivotal flyweight clash on the main card of UFC Singapore next weekend.
Rising UFC flyweight Jessica-Rose Clark is a survivor of a brutal domestic violence attack and she spoke out against the Hardy signing on a recent edition of the Phone Booth Fighting podcast.
“I had a spate with domestic violence before I moved out here to Vegas,” Clark explained. ”That’s actually why I moved to Vegas. I had my fiance - at the time - arrested on one count of attempted murder and two counts of assault. . .
“He didn’t get convicted. He got a 15-month suspended sentence, still allowed to leave the country. They gave him his second chance and I’m a firm believer that someone who is capable of going as far as he went with me – and I know he’s been further with other women before I met him – he’s not going to change. He can do all the convincing and all the lying in the world and he can convince you that he’s a really good person, but who he is at his core is someone who’s capable and willing to do stuff like that.
“So I am very against Greg [Hardy] being signed because I don’t believe that people like that change.“
Clark was assaulted by her fiance, MMA fighter Julian Wallace, in 2016. Wallace kicked Clark in the head while wearing boots, hit her in the face, kneed her in the ribs, threw her on the ground and choked her before Clark was able to break out of the choke and knock Wallace out with a head kick. Wallace plead guilty to the charges. Hardy’s victim was not as lucky.
In 2014, Hardy was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, throwing her into furniture, choking her, and threatening to kill her. He was found guilty of assault and communicating threats. Eventually the charges were dropped on appeal as the victim failed to appear in court to continue the proceedings. Hardy was suspended for 10 games by the NFL (reduced down to four on appeal) but washed out of the league shortly afterwards after clashing with teammates and coaches. Now, Hardy has moved onto a second career that seems likely to be successful given his athletic abilities but Clark thinks the UFC shouldn’t be a party to it because it just perpetuates the behavior.
“Athletic ability seems to supersede any negative thing you do in your life,” Clark said. “You see it time and time again, like Kobe Bryant. It happens so often and it blows my mind that that’s where our society is at. Like, ‘Oh, he did all these really terrible things, but he’s an amazing athlete, so f**k it, let’s just let him keep going and let him keep making his millions and let him keep being on TV.’ There’s no punishment.
“What stops him from going and doing it to the next girlfriend? I promise you that wasn’t the first girlfriend that he did that to but he didn’t get punished for that one, either. He didn’t get punished for the first one and he didn’t get punished for that one and now he’s going to be televised on one of the largest broadcasts in the world, for one of the most popular sports in the world. Where the f**k is the punishment? What’s stopping him from doing it to every girl that comes into contact with him?”
Jessica-Rose Clark is scheduled to face Jessica Eye in a pivotal flyweight clash on the main card of UFC Singapore next weekend.
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