SAN ANTONIO – Despite all the vitriol thrown in his direction, Greg Hardy says there’s nothing personal about fighting Juan Adams.

“I’m too rich, too pretty, I’m having too much fun to take this personally,” Hardy told MMA Junkie in advance of their meeting Saturday at UFC on ESPN 4. “I think the only thing that’s going to come out of this is I’m going to prove he’s a stepping stone. We’re going to wipe his name from history, move on, and continue to watch ‘The Prince.’”

Adams (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has called for a showdown with Hardy (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) even before the two wound up in the UFC. Hardy’s documented past with domestic violence has turned into a rallying cry for Adams, complete with a social media hashtag cursing the ex-NFLer.

But according to Hardy, “The Prince of War,” he hasn’t been paying attention to much of that. He’s just here to do a job required of his boss, UFC president Dana White.

“I looked him up just a little bit,” Hardy said. “I saw him complaining about my boss, Dana, and I don’t take that lightly. I saw him talking about the UFC, how they won’t give him this and give him that, and as a person that has come in and earned it, I felt responsible when the bosses sent me. So they sent me, I’m coming to handle it, deal with it, extinguish the problem, and move on.”

Hardy professes not to care what Adams says and likens him to the many other critics he’s faced since transitioning from the gridiron to the cage. Adams, he said, is beneath a response, though the one he has makes it pretty clear his opponent has elicited one.

“He’s still not on my radar,” Hardy said. “I’m a superstar, man. I don’t really notice ants. It’s lion and sheep, honestly, and their opinion rarely means anything to me. I want to say I have as much respect for the kid as I can have, I guess, for drumming up the kind of business that he’s trying to drum up.

“When your talent can’t back up what you’re doing, you’ve got to resort to other methods. And I guess that’s what he has to do. But the world knows me. The crowd knows me. I’ve been getting bashed this whole time, and my response is the same. God bless ’em. I’m going to put him in the hospital and wish him the best.”

Hardy admits previous critics were “tiring me out before I got into the octagon.” But he’s now on a different level where he’s realizing his full potential.

“It’s the peace that I was looking for in the violence,” Hardy said. “I’m actually enjoying the trip and focus on the fight when it’s time to fight.”

And on Saturday, Hardy will enjoy the work he’s been assigned. When he steps over Adams, he’ll be taking another step forward in his development, not settling a score.

“I’m also at school, but I’m at camp,” Hardy said. “I think we’ll take a break when we get up there in the top 15 and top 10 and plotting on opponents, and start changing the whole entire game completely.”

For more on upcoming UFC on ESPN 4, check out the UFC schedule.