Screwed by the Network: His fight with Kazushi Sakuraba. Forty seconds into the fight he knocked Sakuraba absolutely limp with a left hook; Sakuraba fell motionless into the ropes and Smirnovas pounced on him, punching his unconscious head over and over as Sakuraba made no effort to defend himself or even cover up, but instead of stopping the fight, the referee paused it, because Sakuraba had limply flopped out of the ropes, and needed to be very slowly and helpfully reset. The fight resumed, and Smirnovas picked up right where he left off, landing 30 unanswered punches to Sakuraba's head, but instead of stopping the fight, the referee demanded they get out of the corner, because they were tangled up on the turnbuckle. When Sakuraba tried to move he collapsed to his back, and Smirnovas once again rained down punishment, eventually mounting Sakuraba and hammering him with another 20 unanswered punches while Sakuraba laid still, his arms half-covering his face, but instead of stopping the fight, the referee told him his punches were too close to the back of his head and resumed his quiet observation. After essentially knocking Sakuraba out three times Smirnovas was exhausted, and being as he's not actually human, Sakuraba eventually recovered, got an armbar and the victory in the first round.
