As promised, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, who also moonlights as Greg Hardy’s guardian angel, is giving the controversial football export another shot inside the Octagon.
Hardy (3-1) will battle Russian heavyweight Dmitrii Smoliakov (9-2) at the upcoming UFC on ESPN+ 8 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, scheduled for this Sat. night (April 27, 2019) inside BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
Just don’t expect a lot of trash talk after his last performance.
“Losers don’t get to talk, man,” Hardy told MMA Fighting. “I don’t care how it happened. If I would’ve won, that would’ve been a different story, I would’ve had a story to tell. I probably would’ve still come back and been humbled [by my performance], but I’m a loser now, man. And until I can prove differently, until I can go back up my words, that means nothing. You’ve got to get back to the drawing board and pay the price, so that’s what I’m doing right now.”
Aside from his messy past, which includes charges of domestic violence, last January’s Octagon debut was an unmitigated disaster, ending by way of disqualification in favor of rough-and-tumble heavyweight, Allen Crowder.
He can’t afford another hiccup when he battles the venerable Smoliakov (9-2). “The Lifeguard” may be 0-2 inside the Octagon, but he’s also finished all nine of his heavyweight wins, four by knockout and five by submission.
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