It appears Greg Hardy needed a little help in the Octagon Friday night to help secure his victory. However it turns out the help, which was him using a inhaler, isn't allowed. Hardy took on Ben Sosoli at TD Garden at UFC Boston on Friday night, and initially won the bout by unanimous decision after a solid performance in just his fourth UFC fight ever.
However before the third and final round, Hardy took a hit from an inhaler while sitting in the corner, extremely out of breath. What he believed to be okay, turned out not to be. Hardy was called out by ESPN commentators for the use of the inhaler, which Marc Ratner said was "completely illegal.”
A meeting after the fight determined that Hardy’s inhaler use, which was initially thought to be approved by a Massachusetts athletic commissioner at the time, violated UFC rules. The fight was then officially ruled a no-contest as a result.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, an inspector initially approved the inhaler use when Hardy and his team asked. That inspector, however, didn’t have the authority to do so, which is why the fight was ruled a no-contest instead of a disqualification.
“I was in the ring, me and my coach asked the commission if it would be OK to use my inhaler and they said yes, so I took it,” Hardy said, via ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “I’m still new guy in this sport, I did what I do in every situation — I asked permission, I got permission and I did what I was told.”
Check out footage and people’s reactions to the inhaler (below).