Greg Hardy will make his second appearance in the Octagon at UFC On ESPN 3 on April 27th in Florida against Dmitry Smoliakov.
the former NFL-player’s UFC debut was something of a disaster, suffering the first loss of his fledgling four-fight career after being disqualified for landing an illegal knee against Allen Crowder in the co-main event of UFC On ESPN 1.
Hardy had been trying to prove that he was a changed man after being on the receiving end of a backlash when he first joined the UFC due to incidents of domestic violence from during his time in the NFL, but the DQ has only further tarnished his reputation.
Now he’ll look to turn over a new leaf when he faces the 36-year-old Smoliakov, who came to the UFC with a perfect 8-0 record in 2016, but went on to lose two fights in a row before being released in early 2017.
Smoliakov has only fought once since then, claiming a submission win on the regional circuit and he’ll now be hoping to play the spoiler role and hand Hardy another defeat.
UFC On ESPN 3 doesn’t yet have a headliner, but will also include the likes of Glover Teixeira Vs Ion Cutelaba, John Linker Vs Cory Sandhagen and Andrei Arlovski Vs Augusto Sakai.
