UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy says he feels humbled after a disastrous promotional debut.

Back in January, Hardy made his UFC debut against Allen Crowder. The controversial NFL star was given a chance on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series due to his name and athletic background. Hardy earned two finishes on the series in a matter of seconds. Following a 53-second knockout win on the regional circuit, Hardy was given the co-main event slot at UFC on ESPN+ 1. He lost the bout via disqualification after landing an illegal knee to a downed opponent.

Hardy revealed his biggest takeaways from the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career:

“It’s very true, man. It helps you look more. I wasn’t looking for my flaws when I was winning. Like, I couldn’t see them, I didn’t want to see them. And since I got the loss, I’m a little more humble than I was, which is always a good thing. And you start looking and you start seeing the things where you really messed up. … I’ve had a lot of years of football so I’ve been in control of power for a very long time. Even though you can hit a quarterback, it’s not always in your best interest. Sometimes [being penalized] 15 yards will f*ck your team more than a hit. And it’s just those kind of decisions I’m finding, just because I can knock someone out doesn’t mean I should go for it.

“You’ve got to control these things because there are no timeouts, there are no breaks. You’re in a cage, nobody can save you, man, and you’ve got to make these decisions. That’s the kind of things I’m finding out, and you’ve got to have a humble mind for that, because power’s a drug, man. Power is a drug. In this sport, it’s dangerous. It’ll gas you. You saw me. I was bloodthirsty. The man said he was going to kill me — I wanted to separate him from his consciousness so bad that I energy-dumped everything after I told myself not to energy dump. And you’ve just gotta deal with those kind of things, because you’ve got to be honest. Like honestly, it’s not, ‘Oh, I made a mistake.’ I was cocky. Gotta humble myself.”

Hardy is set to clash with Dmitry Smolyakov this Saturday night (April 27). The bout will serve as UFC Fort Lauderdale’s co-main event.