Former NFL player Greg Hardy was disqualified in his very first UFC fight on Saturday night, for illegally kneeing his opponent in the head when he was down.

The illegal shot to the head was so blatant that the crowd immediately erupted in boos and catcalls.

Hardy’s opponent, Allen Crowder was not the pushover that Hardy may have hoped. In the first round, both fighters gave as much as they took and both connected with solid blows on their opponent. Crowder stood his ground until Hardy was disqualified for the illegal knee delivered while Crowder was down on one knee.

Watch:

Former NFL DE Greg Hardy was disqualified from his UFC debut tonight for delivering an illegal knee to the face. pic.twitter.com/wweVKGbJUf — NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) January 20, 2019

After the disgraceful end to the bout, Hardy insisted that the kneeing was accidental, and he just got caught up in the moment. He also insisted he is not a cheater.

“I’m not a cheater,” Hardy told the media. “Ask Tom Brady if I ever cheated all the times I sacked him. Never in my life have I cheated.”

The disqualified fighter also claimed that the penalty was just a glitch in his new UFC career.

“I’m here to stay,” he exclaimed. “As long as Dana White, ESPN and all of you guys will have me, I’m here to stay. I’m going to fix what I did wrong. And it wasn’t intentional.”

Hardy’s UFC debut was questioned after he was put on the same card as female UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich who had recently been attacked and seriously injured by her husband during a domestic argument.

Ostovich said she did not mind the situation, but many questioned the good sense of the appearance considering Hardy’s own history of alleged domestic abuse charges.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.