Greg Hardy a good athlete, but 'not a real fighter,' Juan Adams says

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SAN ANTONIO – Juan Adams has made it clear he’s not a Greg Hardy fan, either as a person or a fighter.

“You’ve got to put in the work,” Adams told MMA Junkie after a Wednesday workout. “You’ve got to pay your dues to make it in this, and there’s a difference between being a really good athlete and being a good fighter that’s athletic. He’s a really good athlete, don’t get me wrong. But he’s not a real fighter.”

Adams (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), like Hardy (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), punched his ticket to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series. He admitted some envy of all the attention Hardy has been getting from the promotion and the media.

“The more I think about it, I was a little bit jealous of all the push he’s getting,” Adams said. “We both came from the Contender Series. I had more fights than him. I felt like I deserved it a lot more, but it’s a business. It is what it is. I’ve got to respect management’s decision. I still hate the dude, so don’t get me wrong.”

Adams thinks Hardy was fast-tracked to the UFC, while he had to earn it, and that’s a big part of his attitude toward him.

“His whole demeanor, hearing all that stuff, seeing all the benefits he’s getting that I’m working so hard for …” Adams said. “I really had to work a lot to get noticed by the UFC. I fought seven times in 16 months to get my shot on Contender Series. He washed out of the NFL and said, ‘I want to fight,’ and he gets his shot. Thats a big part of it.”

Fighting an opponent like Hardy will mean more exposure for Adams, who said he’s happy to be getting some attention of his own.

“It is a bigger platform than what I’m used to,” Adams said. “I get to fight in my home state. I get a bigger opportunity, more exposure. I finally get press, press conferences, I get to do an open workout. At the end of the day, it’s another fight. I love everything about fighting in the UFC.”

And while Adams hasn’t held back on how he feels toward Hardy, he does feel like an underdog in the fight. He’s been asking for the fight for a long time and finally will get the opportunity to get his hands on Hardy.

“I wouldn’t call it so much a grudge match as, you know, me proving them wrong so much so to speak,” Adams said. “It’s a proving match for me. That’s why I feel this is something I really need to do to prove myself. That’s why I lobbied for it so hard, and there’s got to be a difference.”

Hardy has only gone past the first round once, and that’s where Adams thinks he has the advantage. But he also thinks he has an advantage wherever the fight goes.

“I’ve definitely found myself having the edge in striking accuracy; overall striking; cardio, I feel like I’ve got the edge there; grappling, I definitely have the edge there, so thats the way I see it,” Adams said.

“If we go three rounds, it’s going to turn into a clinic. He’s never gone past two, and he didn’t look that great in the one that he did go two.”

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