A couple of weeks in the past, Heather Hardy was getting ready for a bare-knuckle battle in opposition to BKFC champion Christine Ferea. However now it seems her profession is over.
The 42-year-old fight sports activities veteran, who primarily competed in boxing earlier than embarking on a four-fight run with Bellator MMA, introduced that she’s stepping again from combating because of repeated concussions, which she acknowledged has left her with mind harm. Hardy was initially scheduled to compete on Could 11 within the BKFC title battle with Ferea, however was pulled from the bout simply days earlier than the occasion.
Now Hardy has damaged her silence to clarify the medical analysis that successfully ended her profession.
“My battle for Could 11 is off,” Hardy wrote on Instagram. “After my battle final summer season with Amanda [Serrano], my imaginative and prescient remained blurred for a number of days. I went for an MRI and to get my eyes checked whereas I used to be nonetheless in [Texas] and it was identified the after results of a concussion. [In six to eight] months, I needs to be high-quality. So principally I wanted a battle, and it by no means received higher. My daughter is in school. Everybody thinks I made hundreds of thousands in my profession however I didn’t. I went paycheck to paycheck maintaining that child in the perfect neighborhood so she might go to the perfect faculties. And I wanted to take the battle, so lengthy story quick a month into coaching for Christine and every part received worse with my sight.
“I used to be all the way down to 123 kilos as a result of I couldn’t eat, I wasn’t sleeping, I used to be so weak. I hadn’t informed anybody how unhealthy it was, not my boyfriend not my coaches. I assumed I might make it by way of the ten minute battle, however after a really gentle sparring session i couldn’t see shit for 2 days. I didn’t eat or sleep Friday to Monday, and I knew I used to be too weak to do that shit. After lastly seeing a health care provider, he mentioned I’ve had too many concussions. When you’ve a concussion, a chunk of your mind dies and also you by no means get it again. Think about that? In ten years I’ve had an excessive amount of mind harm. I can’t get any extra or else I gained’t have the ability to see. No working, no jogging, no leaping rope, and no getting hit within the head.”
Whereas she by no means used the phrase “retirement,” Hardy closed her assertion with “so I mentioned the factor … you understand what meaning,” together with a caption on her video studying, “I’m not combating Could 11, I’ve mind harm.”
Hardy had a late begin to her boxing profession, debuting in 2012 when she was 28 years outdated. Regardless of that, she put collectively a powerful undefeated run by way of her first 22 fights. She captured a number of titles alongside the way in which, however suffered her first defeat to Amanda Serrano in 2019.
Within the rematch this previous August, Hardy misplaced a lopsided determination to Serrano after absorbing 278 punishing punches over 10 rounds.
Throughout her temporary MMA profession, Hardy put collectively a 2-2 file in Bellator, along with her closing look coming in 2019 in a loss to Taylor Turner by first-round TKO.
If her profession is de facto over, Hardy retires with a 24-3 file with one no-contest in boxing, a 2-2 file in MMA, and likewise competed in kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts over time.
