Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC is headed to Moscow for the UFC Fight Night 163 mixed martial arts (MMA) event this Sat. night (Nov. 9, 2019) in Russia, and in the absence of a governing athletic body, the promotion will be forced to self-regulate.
That means the rules of Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) will be enforced during the event, so heavyweight power-puncher, Greg Hardy, will be unable to use the inhaler that led to his “No Contest” at UFC Boston last month on ESPN.
“No, he wouldn’t be allowed to use it,” said UFC vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitzky (via MMA Fighting). “It’s not an anti-doping [situation]. It’s a commission rule. I think it would be okay and most commissions would be okay if you took a puff in the back before you walked out, but I don’t think any commission allows any substances other than bottled water inside [the cage].”
Hardy (5-1, 1 NC) stepped in on short notice to fight grizzled veteran Alexander Volkov in the UFC Moscow co-main event after “Drago” lost his headlining spot against Junior dos Santos when “Cigano” was felled by a debilitating infection.
Volkov is ranked No. 7 at 265 pounds, so a victory for the “Prince of War” will undoubtedly leave him somewhere in or around the Top 10. That could lead to this long-awaited grudge match, assuming “Drago” doesn’t take care of that beforehand.