UFC heavyweight Tanner Boser has hit back at fans and pundits who’ve accused him of grabbing the fence against Ovince Saint Preux.
In the UFC Vegas 30 co-main event, Boser returned to the win column with a brutal second-round knockout of OSP. The bout was the 29-year-old’s second walk to the Octagon in just three weeks, having been defeated in a close contest against Ilir Latifi at UFC Vegas 28.
After landing a clean knee to the head, “Bulldozer” let his hands go and sent Saint Preux to the canvas with a right hand. A wild left swing that connected as OSP was on all fours was enough for Jason Herzog to step in.
But the victory didn’t come without a heavy dose of controversy. Moments before the stoppage, OSP was in top position against the cage. At first glance, it appeared that Boser had grabbed the cage in order to haul himself up and reverse the position. However, replays appeared to clear the Canadian of any wrongdoing.
Taking to his Instagram in the aftermath of the fight, Boser addressed those who accused him of grabbing the fence as “dummies.”
“Saved the summer. And I didn’t grab the damn fence you dummies.”
In another post, Boser, who holds a 20-8-1 MMA record, shared pictures of the fight. One screenshot reveals that his hand wasn’t gripping the cage.
“Pictures of me winning the fight and of me explicitly not grabbing the fence.”
But despite the evidence appearing to clear Boser, Ovince Saint Preux has said that he’ll be contesting his loss at last weekend’s event on the grounds that referee Jason Herzog placed his hand on his back to indicate a pause in the action.
Boser will hope that the result, which saw him have his arm raised for the first time since his victory over Raphael Pessoa last July, will not be overturned and declared a no contest.
Do you think that Tanner Boser grabbed the cage at UFC Vegas 30?
