The first fight of the main card features former disgraced NFL player Greg Hardy as he continues his MMA journey in the UFC.

Round 1

Yorgan starts the bout by throwing bombs early. Yorgan also lands some beautiful leg kicks that clearly has Hardy’s movement compromised. The back of Hardy’s left leg appears to be purple from bruising and he locks up periodically on that leg. Yorgan is throwing every shot seemingly with fight ending power. A nice powerful low kick by de Castro is followed by a stinging right hand that appears to stun Hardy. After weathering that storm, Hardy hammers de Castro with punches along the fence near the end of the round. This was an impressive pace for heavyweights in the opening round.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 de Castro

Round 2

An early low kick by de Castro is (finally) checked by Hardy and de Castro clearly suffers a foot injury as he can’t hide the pain and gingerly limps on his feet for a moment. From that point forward de Castro eschews the leg kicks. Hardy shows some good defensive skills mid-round with good head movement to avoid some huge power shots from de Castro. Hardy lands several nice and powerful leg kicks this round. Much slower pace to this round though. And de Castro was mostly inactive throughout.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Hardy

Round 3

Both fighters start the final frame aggressively. Hardy lands a big right hand followed by a low kick from de Castro. Hardy then lands several low kicks before de Castro returns one of his own. De Castro then slips and while on his back Hardy strangely starts punching de Castro’s legs before correctly deciding it is better to kick his foe’s legs. Referee Herb Dean stands up the fighters with 1:20 left in the round. De Castro is largely inactive this round, as well, particularly from mid-round to the end. On the other hand, Hardy finishes the fight strong as he continued to be active and pressing forward throughout the round.

Seattle Fights round score – 10-9 Hardy Official decision – Unanimous decision win for Hardy (all three judges 30-27)