"They are illegal to use" - John McCarthy breaks down cutman technique that triggered Yan Xiaonan's "smelling salt" controversy at UFC 300

Former referee John McCarthy recently shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan title fight at UFC 300 last weekend.

In the first round of the Weili-Xiaonan fight, the title challenger found herself in a deep rear-naked choke with ten seconds on the clock. Weili nearly put her opponent to sleep, but Xiaonan survived the lock. Between rounds, the cutman assigned to Xiaonan could be heard asking her corner team if they wanted him to "wake her up" before the second round began.

After the commentary team heard him ask that question, they speculated whether the cutman was using smelling salts to re-awaken Xiaonan after she was almost put to sleep. Fans soon began discussing the matter on social media, with many wondering whether the cutman illegally helped Xiaonan continue fighting.

In a recent X post, McCarthy rubbished any such notions and made it clear that the cutman didn't do anything wrong. He explained the cutman's process of pushing against the base of the nose to cause pain, causing the fighter to react to the pressure, and wrote:

"There were no smelling salts used in the Zhang vs Xiaonan fight... The Cutman (Rudy Hernandez) used a technique often seen in boxing where you push at the base of the nose, in and up to create pain. It makes the brain respond to the pressure of the push... The commentary mistook the verbal question and the technique used. There was nothing done that broke any rules."

After a fan asked whether cutmen usually carry smelling salts during fights, McCarthy responded:

"No they don’t because they are illegal to use during the fight."

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Yan Xiaonan addresses UFC 300 controversy surrounding alleged use of smelling salts

Yan Xiaonan recently addressed the controversy surrounding her fight against Zhang Weili at UFC 300 last weekend. The Chinese native dismissed allegations of cheating and rubbished rumors surrounding her alleged use of smelling salts to get back into the fight.

As mentioned above, Weili nearly choked out Xiaonan in the opening round of their women's strawweight title fight. However, Xiaonan survived, and the two went through all five rounds. Weili ultimately won the fight via unanimous decision.

During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Xiaonan was asked for her thoughts on the controversy. She replied:

"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... 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."