Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
I know that to date, most Greg Hardy fights come with their own laugh track, but that doesn’t mean we can’t squeeze a few extra giggles out of his first-round shellacking over heavyweight folding chair, Dmitry Smoliakov.
Turns out the 37 year-old “Lifeguard” was drowning in banned substances, according to United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), thanks to positive pre- and post-fight tests for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) and intact human chorionic gonadtrophin (hCG).
“I don’t know who the fuck that guy beat in nine fights, but I’d like to see the nine guys he beat,” UFC President Dana White chuckled after the UFC Ft. Lauderdale event last April in Sunrise, Florida, perhaps forgetting it was his team who made the match up.
Smoliakov (9-3) lost all three of his professional fights under the UFC banner and was widely-panned for his Hardy performance, which was very Bob Sapp-esque in its ending. The Russian bruiser essentially folded up at the first sign of danger.
Assuming he still has a job in the United States, Smoliakov will be eligible to return in April of 2021.