I'm a lawyer and regularly defend people against these charges.
It is notable to me that the police actually charged him after interviewing the girlfriend. Normally police will not charge unless there is evidence of an assault (physical marks). If there is no evidence they will tell the person to go down to the magistrate themselves if they wish to take out a charge.
Second thing is he's not going to jail for this even if convicted. He doesn't appear to have a previous criminal record and almost no one in nc goes to jail on a first offense misdemeanor.
Depending on the policy of the DAs office in charlotte, whether the girlfriend cooperates with the DA, and the nature of the assault there could be a range of options. Where I practice, sometimes the defendant will be offered community service in exchange for a dismissal of the charges at a later date. Other times a plea will be negotiated. My guess is Hardy will plead not guilty and want a trial on the charges unless he is offered a community service type deal for a dismissal.
As many have said, this charge isn't a felony which means the police did not have evidence of a "serious injury" to the girlfriend. Assault inflicting serious injury is a common felony charge that you see in a domestic situation. In my experience, the vast majority of domestic assaults are charged as assault on a female.