Greg Hardy cashed in on his second co-main event spot earlier tonight (Sat., April 27, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 8 live on ESPN+ from inside BB&T Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when he ended former training partner Dmitrii Smoliakov via first-round TKO (punches).
The former NFL star looked a lot more comfortable in his second Octagon appearance. Hardy was more patient and made every punch count in his pursuit of Smoliakov. The Russian couldn’t stomach much punishment before falling down in the middle of the first. Hardy pounced and landed vicious ground-and-pound for the eventual TKO stoppage.
Check out the highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
With this performance, Hardy finally displays the punching power that got him into the UFC in the first place. He looked much better just three months removed from his debut so it’ll be interesting to see what he does next.
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