The second effort of Greg Hardy in the Octagon will take place at UFC Fort Lauderdale in April against Dmitry Smoliakov.
Greg Hardy and Russian fighter Dmitry Smoliakov are reportedly in the works for the UFC Fort Lauderdale fight card on April 27. The fight was first reported by journalist Igor Lazorin.
The always controversial Greg Hardy is coming off a loss in his UFC debut to Allen Crowder. Hardy illegally kneed Crowder in the head while he was a down opponent resulting in the disqualification during the ex-NFL pro bowler’s UFC debut. The illegal knee was met by major backlash from fans and colleagues alike.
Hardy’s past has been consistently questioned by fans due to domestic violence accusations from back when he played football.
Hardy will be looking to notch is first win in the Octagon after a fast start. He went 3-0 before the loss with three knockouts in the first round. Crowder was his first test with adversity and the first fight to leave the first round.
Across the cage, Dmitry Smoliakov is coming off a win in Kaliningrad Challenge in January, submitting his opponent via kimura. With several other submissions on his record, Smoliakov will be looking to get the fight to the ground with Hardy, a place fans question him at. This will be the Russian’s return to the Octagon after going 0-2 in the promotion in 2016-2017.
UFC Fort Lauderdale will air on ESPN. The card is headlined by two-time middleweight challenger, Yoel Romero, and Paulo Costa. Romero is looking to rebound from his second loss to Robert Whittaker. Costa is coming off of an impressive win at UFC 226 over Uriah Hall.
Also on the card is the rescheduled bout between Glover Teixeira and Ion Cutelaba, which was supposed to be on the UFC Brooklyn fight card before Cutelaba was forced out of the fight. Also on the card is John Lineker and Corey Sandhagen, another fight rescheduled from the Brooklyn card.
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