Ex-NFL players Greg Hardy, Austen Lane to fight in UFC bout

Former All-Pro defensive lineman Greg Hardy will face Austen Lane, another former NFL player, in a UFC heavyweight bout on June 12.

The fight was announced during Saturday's UFC 224 broadcast. The matchup is part of the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series.

Hardy has won three amateur mixed martial arts fights. Lane, who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, is 4-0 as a professional MMA fighter. That includes two knockouts in which both took 20 seconds or less.

"At the end of the day, when we go in the cage, we're just going to be two fighters," Lane told FloCombat.com. "Obviously we'll both have some athleticism that has carried over from the NFL, but I don't consider him former NFL player Greg Hardy, I consider him MMA fighter Greg Hardy, and that's how I'm going to approach what he's bringing to the table."

Hardy played five seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He recorded 15 sacks for Carolina in 2013 but only played one game in 2014 before being placed on the commissioner's exempt list following a domestic violence incident in North Carolina in May 2014. The case was later dropped.

Hardy last played in the NFL in 2015 with the Dallas Cowboys. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug charge in 2016.

Lane, a fifth-round draft pick of Jacksonville in 2010, played for the Jaguars, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears from 2010-14.