4 Reasons why Greg Hardy possibly threw the illegal knee

#2 Genuinely thought the knee was coming up

Greg Hardy might have actually believed his knees were up

In the post-fight interview after UFC Fight Night 143, Greg Hardy seemed genuinely apologetic, and although he seemed adamant about that fact that he had never cheated in the past, he said that he had thought that the knees of Allen Crowder were coming up.

Crowder had shifted the moment before Hardy hit the knee, but at no point was he not on his knees there at that moment. Greg Hardy, in the middle of the Octagon, looking to finish his opponent in the heat of the moment might not have understood that his opponent was on both knees.

For this reason, Hardy went for the knee, and it was a vicious one at that. A punch to the temple has proved enough to knock out people in the past, and a knee to the temple is that much worse. The entire thing, doubtful though it appears, might have been nothing more than a misunderstanding.