Greg Hardy Secures 1st UFC Win with 1st-Round TKO over Dmitrii Smoliakov

Former NFL star Greg Hardy picked up his first official UFC win in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 150 in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday with a first-round TKO win over Dmitrii Smoliakov.

Hardy came out with a much more measured approach than he did in his debut. He took his time in the early going, touching his opponent with a right hand that established his power early on and then waiting for the next opening.

He didn't have to wait long. Smoliakov was hesitant from the get-go to offer much resistance to Hardy's advancing and shelled up as Hardy began to open up.

The NFL star is going to have to do more to win over critics, though. Most were unamused by the level of competition Hardy was seeing in the Octagon. 

Ariel Helwani of ESPN gave Hardy credit for at least looking like he was in better shape than his disastrous UFC debut in January:

Hardy's win gives him some redemption after a controversial UFC debut. The former Carolina Panther and Dallas Cowboy lost his official promotional debut after kneeing a downed opponent in Allen Crowder.

Now, Hardy has a legitimate win to his name and he's looking to climb the ladder quickly. According to TMZ Sports, he's eyeing a fight with former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic or Derrick Lewis in the near future.

The heavyweight certainly has his sights set high, but from his perspective, it's just a matter of time before his fight IQ and cage presence match his physical gifts.

"I don't think I match up with anybody," Hardy said, per Mike Bohn and Matt Erickson of MMAjunkie. "I think I might be the biggest person in the UFC. Hopefully I'm the fastest, one of the most athletic. I think the only difference between me and everybody else is my intelligence in the game and my training experience. I've been working every day tirelessly trying to catch up on that, but athletically and physically, there's no comparison."

Hardy's hubris is bold, to say the least. The fighters he has his sights on have all accomplished much more in the cage. He wasn't exactly dominating Crowder before being disqualified in his debut.

However, it's clear that the UFC is invested in the 30-year-old. This is his second co-main event slot in as many fights and his name recognition as a former All-Pro with the Carolina Panthers is the kind of star power the organization covets.

That marketability doesn't come without baggage, though. He was convicted on two counts of assaulting a female and communicating threats in 2014 before the charges were later dismissed and expunged from his record, his NFL career coming to an end shortly after.

After the loss to Crowder, it appeared that Hardy's foray into MMA might be fleeting. Now, it appears he may just be getting started.