Bellator’s Heather Hardy recently announced on Instagram that she will be stepping away from professional MMA. The fan favourite is better known for being the current WBO women’s featherweight champion. With a professional boxing record of 22-0, she has had a lot more success in the squared ring than in MMA. Her current MMA record stands at 2-2.
Hardy’s statement
Heather Hardy announced on Instagram that she will be ‘switching her focus back to boxing’. We can expect her to announce a possible fight sometime soon.
“Well that was fun…
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Hardy’s MMA Career
Heather Hardy made her professional MMA debut at Bellator’s first event in New York City. On this occasion, she picked up a TKO victory in the final round. She was badly cut in this bout but rallied to get the victory with just 13 seconds left. After her first bout, she stated that she ‘just fell in love’, when speaking at her post-fight press conference.
Hardy’s second bout didn’t go as well as the first, however. At Bellator 185, Hardy was matched up against Kristina Williams, who was making her professional debut. Hardy struggled to find her range and was tagged by Williams throughout. In the second round, Hardy ate a shin directly to the nose, causing a break the second it connected. The doctor was called in because of the injury and the doc ultimately called the fight off.
Hardy told Luke Thomas that she was temporarily blinded and that she was ‘spitting out chunks of bone’ following the kick.
Her third professional bout somewhat went under the radar. Hardy was able to show her ground game, defeating fellow professional boxer turned MMA fighter Ana Julaton to a decision. Following the bout, Hardy apologised for the lacklustre fight on Twitter, stating ‘the win was on her mind’. What turned out to be her final MMA fight (for now) came at Bellator 222. Unfortunately for fans of Heather Hardy, she again came up short. She lost on this occasion to Taylor Turner via ground and pound in the first round.
The New Yorker steps away with a record of 2-2 in professional MMA, all of her bouts taking place under the Bellator banner. She’ll certainly be remembered by MMA fans as someone that always came to fight and for the most part, put on entertaining fights.
