Ex-NFLer Hardy wins first fight in 32 seconds

Greg Hardy, who washed out of the NFL two years ago after a domestic-violence incident, has reinvented himself as a mixed martial arts fighter and, in his first fight Saturday, scored a knockout in 32 seconds.

With a crowd of only around 500 people looking on, the KO by the former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end occurred in the Rise of a Warrior 21 bout against Joe Hawkins, who was also making his MMA debut, in Fort Pierce, Fla.

ESPN reported Hardy landed an overhand right, then an outside leg kick and another right.

“I’m ecstatic. I’ve been humbled a lot in the last two years,” Hardy told ESPN. “I’m just super excited to be able to compete. I’m just super excited to be back in the area. I’m super excited to be back to the Greg Hardy everyone knows and remembers and give back to my fans.”

Hardy, 29, was a stellar if volatile defensive end for the Panthers, but his career nosedived after he missed most of the 2014 season because of an alleged assault incident involving an ex-girlfriend and a bed covered with guns.

Initially suspended 10 games, his sentence was reduced as the NFL grappled with how to punish players for domestic violence incidents. Hardy was found guilty by a North Carolina judge and, following procedure in that state, asked for a jury trial. The case was dismissed when the alleged victim did not appear.

The Panthers let Hardy walk and he signed with the Cowboys in 2015. He was arrested on a cocaine possession charge in a Dallas suburb a year ago.