It turns out the fighter who was finished in rapid order by Greg Hardy, then had his credentials questioned by UFC president Dana White, was on juice for his fight.
Russian heavyweight Dmitri Smoliakov put in a less-than-spectacular performance against Hardy on April 27 at UFC on ESPN+ 8, losing via TKO at the 2:15 mark of the opening round.
The performance in the co-feature bout was so bad that White questioned how in the world Smoliakov ever managed to win nine professional fights.
“I don’t know who the (expletive) that guy beat in nine fights, but I’d like to see the nine guys he beat,” White said that night at the post-event news conference.
While the result might not have demonstrated such, it turns out Smoliakov (9-3 MMA, 0-3 MMA) was using performance-enhancers for the matchup.
The U.S. Anti-Doping agency announced on Tuesday that Smoliakov has accepted a two-year suspension for a pair of violations stemming from urine tests. The first was an out-of-competition test administered April 22, and the second an in-competition test on April 27.
Both tests turned up positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) and intact human chorionic gonadtrophin (hCG), which are banned both in and out of competition.
The 37-year-old Smoliakov’s suspension is retroactive to April 22, which means he’ll be able to re-apply for his license on that date in 2021.
