Inhaler-Gate, Chaos at UFC Boston

By: Stephen Hardy-Delaney

Remember the Boston Tea Party? Well, this was the Boston Fight Party.

UFC Fight Night in Boston had it all from devastating knockouts, all-out brawls, and even controversy caused by an inhaler.

In the main event, we saw once again an old dog be fed to a young lion. Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman moved up a weight class to take on the 4^th ranked light heavyweight, Dominick Reyes who showed everybody that he is legit and ready for the big stage as Reyes landed a straight left hand right down the pipe that knocked Weidman to the ground and would be put to sleep with hammer fists from Reyes who looked extremely sharp. Reyes would go on to call out the man who has never tasted defeat and the light heavyweight king, Jon Jones.

Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez put on an absolute war for the ages in a rematch which saw the first contest be stopped in the opening seconds due to an eye poke which rendered Jeremy Stephens unable to continue which saw Mexico City erupts in chaos, launching trash, beer, anything that was in their hands at the time into the octagon and even be hurled at the fighters as they walked back to their locker rooms. It was madness. But this fight had its own madness as these fighters whose beef built up, even more, leading up to this fight with Jeremy Stephens even stating, “If [Yair] is still breathing after this fight it doesn’t count.” Both these men wanted blood and they got it. Yair was the crisper fighter with crazy exchanges, combos, and a speed advantage over Stephens, but the people who questioned Stephens’s heart are no longer questioning it anymore.

After being dropped with a brutal leg kick to the body in the 2^nd round and almost being finished, Jeremy Stephens roared back to win the 3^rd round in dominating fashion by utilizing his wrestling where Rodriguez struggles the most and landed several significant strikes to put Rodriguez in serious danger. These two warriors stole the show and to Dana White’s dismay he admitted during the post-fight press conference that he should’ve had this fight as the main event and claimed, “Who wouldn’t want to see two more rounds of that?” But nonetheless, the war between Stephens and Rodriguez was all worth it and then some. Rodriguez would go on to win the fight by decision and what was most important is that as soon as the fight ended with Rodriguez on his back taking a ground and pound beating from Stephens, Stephens immediately offered his hand to lift up his counterpart off the ground and the two made peace as both fighters had earned each other’s respect through war. Yair Rodriguez now has two back to back wins over “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung and now Jeremy Stephens, with Stephens dropping his last three fights all to ranked opponents.

Now, Inhaler-Gate.

You cannot have a controversy in Boston without a “gate” behind it, right? *cough* *cough* New England Patriots. Anyway, and who other does this controversy affect? Probably the UFC’s most controversial fighter, Greg Hardy whose fights have ended in nothing but controversy (not all his fault, but still). But none bigger than this one where we saw for the first time ever a UFC fighter use an inhaler in between rounds. Not that anybody knows of at least.

Greg Hardy went toe to toe with UFC newcomer, Ben Sosoli where we saw Hardy go the distance his first time ever in his young MMA career. Though Hardy showed improvement and more added to his arsenal, Hardy was immediately met with controversy when the cameras caught Hardy asking if he could use his inhaler to which he did and stated while still on his stool in between the 2^nd and 3^rd rounds that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) approved it.

Here’s a video courtesy of ESPN MMA:

In the post-fight press conference, Greg Hardy was flooded with questions about his inhaler which Hardy went on to claim “It’s a ventolin albuterol inhaler for exercise-induced asthma. I used it my whole life. I signed the commission paperwork when I weighed in. It’s on the USADA paperwork when I take every single drug test so that y’all know that I’m not taking steroids. I’m just naturally a monster.”

Hardy went on to claim he was “super sad” and you could see the disappointment in his facial expressions. But what’s it going to take to stop these mistakes from happening?

UFC President Dana White stated, “It was crazy”, “I don’t even know what to say. First of all, Din Thomas, I mean c’mon Din, you’ve been in this game forever.” White is referring to Hardy’s cornerman/coach and former UFC fighter who is also one of White’s close friends who co-stars with him on “Dana White’s Lookin’ For A Fight” TV program which airs on YouTube and other services along with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra.

“His corner, you gotta know you can’t use an inhaler in the corner. They should know that. Shouldn’t even be a question. You can drink water. It’s pretty simple.”

Everybody involved in this fight was very disappointed from the UFC President, to the commentators, to the commission, and especially Greg Hardy himself and his team. Another question that flew Hardy’s way during the post-fight press conference was would he appeal the no-contest decision, but Hardy did not seem the least interested as disappointment showed throughout the whole interview.

But if you’re wondering if this would stop Greg Hardy in his tracks, no way, as news has just broke out this past Tuesday that former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Junior Dos Santos has pulled out of his fight with Alexander Volkov due to ongoing cellulitis in his leg, an infection that apparently required two procedures to remove according to SB Nation. Hardy has agreed to step in on 18 days notice at his request and will take on the 7^th ranked Russian in his own backyard at UFC Moscow in the co-main event, November 9^th.