At UFC on ESPN+ 8 on Saturday, former NFL All-Pro Greg Hardy competed in his second co-main event in as many UFC appearances, easily dispatching Dmitrii Smoliakov by first-round TKO at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. It was a nice rebound victory for Hardy, who was disqualified in his UFC debut back in January. At the UFC on ESPN+ 8 post-fight news conference, UFC president Dana White – likely unintentionally – took away some of the shine from Hardy’s victory when he was highly critical of Smoliakov . That struck many observers as odd since the consensus opinion seems to be that the UFC wants Hardy to become a star, despite his checkered past, and therefore has started him off with easy fights intentionally. Our question now: How should the UFC book Hardy moving forward? MMA Junkie’s Ben Fowlkes, Fernanda Prates and John Morgan sound off in this week’s edition of “Triple Take.” Ben Fowlkes: Put him in a fight he might actually lose – and stop trying so hard to control the narrative Regardless of what Dana White might say to the contrary, the UFC clearly has a plan it’s trying to execute with Greg Hardy .
Go here to read the rest:
Triple Take: How should UFC book Greg Hardy moving forward? – MMA Junkie