UFC on ESPN 6 results: Greg Hardy gets unanimous decision win over Ben Sosoli in lackluster fight

Ex-NFL player Greg Hardy earned his third straight victory on Friday night, although this probably isn’t a fight that will end up on his highlight reel.

Hardy opted for a tactical game plan over three rounds, hitting opponent Ben Sosoli with punches and kicks from the outside to get the nod by unanimous decision after three rounds. The scorecards all read 29-28 in favor of Hardy, who moves to 6-1 in his career and 3-1 in the UFC.

As soon as the fighters squared up at the start of the fight, Hardy had a huge size advantage but that didn’t stop Sosoli from coming after him with punches to the body and head showing no fear of the former football player’s power.

It took some time for Hardy to find his timing and range but once he started connecting with his punches, he was catching Sosoli with some staggering shots that reverberated throughout the TD Garden Arena.

By the time the first round ended, Sosoli had a cut under his right eye as well as some swelling, which may have been caused from an eye poke that wasn’t caught by the referee.

Rather than forcing a knockout, Hardy was content working on the outside while battering Sosoli’s legs with a series of hard kicks. Sosoli tried time and time again to catch Hardy with an overhand right but he came up short on every attempt.

Hardy was definitely out landing Sosoli throughout the fight but he just wasn’t doing a lot of damage nor was he going for the kill. Instead, Hardy seemed content with peppering Sosoli with shots from the outside but refusing to engage in any real exchanges.

A huge controversy erupted between the second and third rounds when Hardy asked for his inhaler, which is typically not allowed but he still took the medicine after a ringside official gave the OK. After witnessing Hardy using his inhaler, Marc Ratner, the UFC vice president of regulatory affairs, confirmed it should not have been allowed.

“Completely illegal. It’s against all the rules,” Ratner said.

Ultimately while the use of the inhaler dominated the commentary during the final five minutes, Hardy was able to resist a late surge from Sosoli to close out the fight while earning his third straight victory inside the Octagon.

It’s unknown if the use of the inhaler could come back to bite him but for now Hardy will celebrate his third win in four fights in 2019.