LAS VEGAS — The first fist that landed squarely on Austen Lane’s jaw threw Dana White out of his ringside seat. The second and final fist that landed brought White’s open hand to a mouth agape. There was no modesty about this, no sweet science—this was a hammering. Fifty-seven seconds into Greg Hardy’s first professional MMA fight, the referee had seen enough. A 6'5" man built like a Ferrari knelt in anguish and considerable pain while his wild-eyed and grinning opponent stomped around and rejoiced at more than just a victory in a cage. In less than a minute, a once-mighty man unaccustomed to laboring in anonymity was returned to the light on the strength of the defining characteristic of his life as an athlete: swift and sudden violence.
Greg Hardy, the UFC and the Limits of the Second Chance
