With all of the debate around the ethics of having Greg Hardy in the UFC, people seem to have forgotten that he has an opponent Jan. 19 in Brooklyn. 

At UFC on ESPN+ 1, Allen Crowder steps into the cage with the former NFL star for what will be Crowder’s second fight for the promotion. Although plenty believe Hardy doesn’t belong in the UFC due to his past transgressions, there’s another reason why Crowder doesn’t think he should step into the legendary Octagon. 

“I don’t believe he’s ready to be in there—definitely not in the UFC,” Crowder said. “I feel like he should have fought at least six more times against some challenging opponents before he got the call up to the UFC.”

But just because he thinks Hardy doesn’t belong there yet, Crowder won't discount what his opponent brings to the table.

“I believe he’s got a lot of potential—big, athletic guy, strong with fast footwork,” he said. “He just hasn’t put the time in, hasn’t got the years in.”

And that element of time, Crowder says, has resulted in him not having the necessary skill set to hang with a 12-fight veteran. 

“A lot of guys he fought fell straight backwards,” Crowder said. “Their boxing wasn’t as polished as mine.”

Crowder’s boxing skills are just one of the reasons he thinks he has the advantage over Hardy, but his cardio, he feels, adds to that equation. 

“I plan to knock him out,” Crowder said. “I’m thinking first or second round—get him tired and use my superior boxing skills to beat him to death.”

The fact that Hardy has not fought much more than a minute at a time, makes Crowder confident that he won’t be the same in deep water. 

“We’ll see how he does after a couple minutes rather than knocking someone out in a minute in a half,” Crowder said.