Greg Hardy will be trying his hand at becoming a professional in a third different sport. 

The former NFL player and UFC fighter Hardy is set to make his professional boxing debut against an opponent still to be determined on Oct. 8 in Delray Beach, Fla., Black Sheep Boxing Promotions announced on its Instagram page.

Hardy (7-5, 1 NC) was removed from the UFC roster on March 16, days after suffering his third-consecutive knockout loss in the cage.

The heavyweight contender Hardy turned professional in MMA in 2018 after flaming out in football. 

The 2010 sixth-round pick out of the University of Mississippi developed into a Pro Bowl pass rusher for the Carolina Panthers and played in the NFL until 2015, accumulating 40 sacks along the way. Twenty-six of those quarterback takedowns came during a torrid two-season stretch in 2012 and 2013.

Hardy found himself hard-pressed for football work soon after, however, due to character concerns after he was found guilty of domestic violence charges toward an ex-girlfriend in 2014. The charges were later dismissed and expunged once the woman stopped cooperating with authorities.

Nicknamed “The Prince of War,” Hardy has previously talked a big game in regard to his boxing prospects, predicting that he’d knocked out Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Deontay Wilder once he crossed over into boxing. 

Six of Hardy’s seven career wins in MMA have come via knockout. 

Hardy stands at 6 foot 5 inches and weighed 266 in his last fight against Sergey Spivak. 

He will turn 34 years old in July. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.