Surging UFC women’s flyweight Veronica Hardy will return to the octagon at UFC 309 in an attempt to maintain her momentum as she takes on Brazil’s Eduarda Moura at Madison Square Garden in November in a card headlined by Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic. However, she’ll not be able to watch the heavyweight clash.
Ahead of her bout, the 28-year-old dropped a revelation about the promotion, claiming that fighters like her are forced out of the arena once their bouts are over!
During a recent exclusive with Inside Fighting‘s Mike Owens, Hardy revealed that the UFC doesn’t let fighters stay on and watch the fights even if they are featured on the same card. But what they do get, is a 5-minute buffer after which they’ll be asked to leave the arena.
“They don’t let you stay. You got to go. They’re like, ‘Oh, you fought, okay cool, pictures, interview, you want to leave now or in like five minutes?'”
Now, that’s harsh even by Dana White standards! After all, they’re athletes who are putting everything on the line. Previously other athletes have confirmed the same treatment from the promotion.
Earlier in July, following his 19-second KO win to UFC 303, Payton Talbott was asked by UFC staff to leave the T-Mobile Arena. When he couldn’t show the ticket the staffer said “Sorry, no exceptions” and got him to pack his bags.
It’s especially cruel since UFC doesn’t even pay their fighters well, so this is just purely petty.
But given that Dana White still talks about former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou like a petulant teenager being salty about a bad breakup, this is not really that surprising.
Meanwhile, Ngannou, who never actually lost his heavyweight title, has now weighed in on the Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic fight.
Stipe’s 3-year-long hiatus worries Ngannou
Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is returning back to the octagon after a hiatus to defend his heavyweight belt against ‘GOAT’ of the HW division, Stipe Miocic in a legacy fight at the Madison Square Garden.
While the 37-year-old has cemented his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of all time, beating the likes of Daniel Cormier, Lyoto Machida, and several others, this time he will go up against the revered fireman- Miocic.
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As for the Ohio native, Miocic will be entering the UFC octagon for the first time in over three years when he touches his gloves with Jones on November 16. Not to mention, his last fight was a devastating KO loss to Francis Ngannou.
Reflecting on the upcoming fight, ‘The Predator’ recently weighed in on his thoughts, saying,
“Stipe hasn’t fought for three years — since we last fought. So, I don’t really know where he’s at, I don’t know how he’s going to show up. I know he always shows up good, but it’s been a while and he’s not getting younger.”
Though the Cameroonian gives it a 50-50 shot for either fighter, considering their age, he is slightly inclined toward Jones, picking him as the winner. He also mentioned Miocic’s commitment, opining that he really wouldn’t be surprised if the Cleveland native stunned the champion.
