Joe Rogan and UFC 300 ‘smelling salt’ controversy gets detailed explanation from John McCarthy

Zhang Weili defended her women’s strawweight title strap at UFC 300. In her current run, she edged out Yan Xiaonan via a unanimous decision to retain her gold. Their bout was exciting and high-octane. However, the fight wasn’t without its controversies, especially with the commentary team leveling some accusations. It involved smelling salt, of all things, to create controversy.

Weili, a ‘Shuai jiao’ (jacket wrestling) practitioner, is a natural grappler. She sunk in a rear-naked choke at the end of Round 1 that visibly put Xiaonan out. She almost lost consciousness and recovered all wobbly. Asking to wake her up, the cutman jostled his finger around the bridge of her nose, which awoke her. Everybody wondered if UFC 300 saw a ‘smelling salt’ controversy. Former referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy gave his take on the matter.

There were no smelling salts used in the Zhang vs Xiaonan fight. The Commentators thought they saw the Cutman...putting something under the nose of Yan after saying “Do you want me to wake her up”?? The Cutman (Rudy Hernandez) used a technique often seen in boxing where you push at the base of the nose... It makes the brain respond to the pressure of the push. Rudy was using his fingers to create the pressure and the gloves he was wearing were black. 

John McCarthy via X (@JohnMcCarthyMMA)

On the broadcast desk, play-by-play Daniel Cormier speculated smelling salts were used to wake her up. Veteran commentator Joe Rogan chimed in, talking about the properties of smelling salt. The duo went to and fro about how this was not allowed but later dismissed the implications in light of the ongoing bout. Cormier later clarified that this wasn’t the case, as even combat sports regulatory litigator Erik Magraken said that ammonia substances were not permissible.

Now, famed referee John McCarthy (co-host of the “Weighing In” Podcast) weighs in that it is a technique to fire up the circulatory nasal synapses. Even Xiaonan later told MMA Junkie through a translator that while she was dazed, but wasn’t completely out. Hence, no Kickstarter was necessary. The matter has garnered much attention recently.

Yan Xiaonan speaks out on UFC 300’s smelling salt controversy

UFC women’s strawweight champ Zhang Weili recently defended her strap in the co-main event of UFC 300. Consequently, she edged out Yan Xiaonan via unanimous decision (49-45) and retained her gold. However, the blow-for-blow bout saw Xiaonan (17-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) fall prey to a couple of submissions.

One of them came at the last few moments of Round 1. A rear-naked choke had her completely out. Dazed and woozy, she later recovered while the cutman tended to her. The matter had generated quite a ‘smelling salt’ controversy with how she recovered. She has debunked the matter since then.

I didn’t notice what the cutman was doing between rounds, because when I went back to the corner, I was still recovering from the choke...so the only thing I could see was Urijah [Faber]...The smelling salt thing makes no sense, nobody had those, nobody used those things to wake me up it makes no sense, you guys know it’s not allowed to be used.

Yan Xiaonan via The MMA Hour

For the time being, Xiaonan reels and resets. With oddsmakers labeling it a lopsided affair against the seasoned Zhang Weili, Xiaonan turned it into a high-paced battle. She earned props from the MMA world for troubling Weili at times. While she might have almost fainted, she recovered and gave it her all, which has won her many fans.

In case you missed it:

• Islam Makhachev’s manager makes BOLD prediction about undefeated strawweight wrestler dethroning Zhang Weili as 115 pounds champion
• “What she did is to separate people,” When Chinese fighter Yan Xiaonan slammed Rose Namajunas for controversial communism dig

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