Dana White’s Contender Series returns to UFC Fight Pass on Tuesday, and the lineup features a polarizing figure from the NFL world.

The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Dashawn Boatwright and Alonzo Menifield, a Bellator, LFA and RFA veteran who defeated Daniel Jolly at Dana White’s Contender Series 3 in 2017 but didn’t get a contract.

But the fight people seem to be talking about is between controversial heavyweight and former NFL player Greg Hardy (0-0), who meets another ex-NFL player, Austen Lane (4-0), on the card. The debut of the second season of the series streams live on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on Tuesday.

Hardy is relatively new to MMA. He made his amateur debut this past November and picked up a 32-second TKO win. His second fight was three times as long, but he finished it with a head-kick TKO. In February, he took out Ryan Chester at LFA 33 in an amateur bout in just 14 seconds.

But a few items from Hardy’s time in the NFL are what give his critics all kind of pause about whether or not he should be given a shot to make it in the UFC. White said he’s getting that shot because “everybody deserves a second chance.”

Hardy was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend in July 2014, only to have the charges dropped after the alleged victim refused to testify in his appeal. Hardy played for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers at the time, but despite the team initially planning to let him play after the charges were dropped, it reversed course, deactivated him and placed him on the exempt list. That ended his career with the Panthers, and he signed with the Dallas Cowboys the following spring.

A month after he signed with the Cowboys, though, the NFL suspended Hardy for 10 games without pay for violating the league’s conduct policy. That suspension was reduced to four games, and he finished out the year in Dallas. But after the season, the team chose to not re-sign him, and none of the other 31 teams in the league went after the defensive end before the next season.

While he still was playing for the Cowboys, the domestic violence charges against him were expunged from his record. But then photos of his ex-girlfriend’s alleged injuries at his hands surfaced. Additionally, in September 2016, he was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance in Texas.

“He went through everything, the whole legal process, went back to football,” White said after UFC 225 on Saturday at United Center in Chicago. “… I guess he had a real bad drug and alcohol problem, started getting into MMA, cleaned himself up.

“If you talk to anybody that he trains with, male or female, they say he’s a very good guy, he’s very humble – and everybody deserves a second chance.”

In the Dana White’s Contender Series format, five live fights take place. Afterward, White picks one or two winning fighters to get UFC contracts based on their performances. And that means if Hardy wins and is impressive enough in what will be his professional MMA debut, his next bout conceivably could be in the UFC if he does enough to convince White he should be there.

“The guy was never charged with anything,” White said. “He was never sentenced or anything like that. So we’re going to give him a shot.”

The first Season 2 event of Dana White’s Contender Series features:

Alonzo Menifield vs. Dashawn Boatwright

Chris Curtis vs. Sean Lally

Greg Hardy vs. Austen Lane

Rico DiSciullo vs. Montel Jackson

Kevin Holland vs. Will Santiago

For more on Dana White’s Contender Series 9, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

Other apps just deliver sports. The USA TODAY Sportswire app lets you pick specific team sites to get only the news that you want to know.

newsletter Get 10 hot stories each day Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation. Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation.