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In order to maintain, measure, and gage the distance against their opponents, UFC fighters often have to outstretch their fingers. This may lead to an unintentional eye poke which is considered a foul under the rules of UFC.
As per the 2017 revision of rules and regulations of the UFC, eye-gouging by means of fingers, chin, or elbow is illegal and can result in disqualification. Fighters like Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier are notorious for prodding their opponents with extended fingers. Often this may lead to serious injuries just like the one that took place in UFC Vegas 21's main event.
Here, we list some of the most gruesome eye pokes in the UFC that caused fights to be called off:
#4 Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21
Following his almost two-year-long layoff waiting on the sidelines, Leon Edwards finally made his much-awaited comeback at UFC Vegas 21. Unfortunately, things didn't unfold as the Brit might have expected coming into the fight with Belal Muhammad.
In the second round, as Leon Edwards threw a left bodykick, his thumb shoved into Muhammad's right eye, causing the latter to shriek in pain. Upon intervening and inspecting the gruesome injury caused by the nasty eye poke, referee Herb Dean judiciously called off the fight and ruled it a no contest.
Belal Muhammad, who is currently ranked No. 13 in the welterweight division, slid into the main event spot after Khamzat Chimaev had to pull out of tonight's headliner.
Leading up to his first main event, 'Remember The Name' had expressed his contentment with the opportunity to headline a fight card. It was saddening to see an eye poke cause such a setback in Muhammad's title aspirations.
#3 Michael Bisping vs Alan Belcher at UFC 159
Michael Bisping underwent multiple surgeries following the loss to Vitor Belfort that detached the former middleweight champion's retina. Just a couple of months later, Bisping brutally poked middleweight Alan Belcher at UFC 159. The poke led to the fight getting stopped immediately by the officials.
In the third round, as Belcher was aiming to catch Bisping with a right hook, Bisping's fingers accidentally prodded into Belcher's eyes. This caused Belcher to crash onto the canvas in immense agony. Belcher pulled out his mouth-guard and it was clear that the fight was not going to proceed any further.
The incident took place just 10 seconds away from the fight's conclusion. With this in mind, the officials decided to take it to the judges' decision. Surprisingly enough, Michael Bisping was declared the winner. It was reported that Alan Belcher had to get his eyelids stitched up post-fight and the fighter had to discontinue his fighting career.
#2 Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado at UFC 153
Wagner Prado, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, made his promotional debut against light heavyweight prospect Phil Davis at UFC 153 in 2012. A frustrating eye poke that sent Prado to the fence put a halt to the Brazilian's much anticipated entry into the UFC.
An accidental poke in the very first round led to the referee waving the fight off and ruling it a no contest. Wagner was an undefeated fighter coming into the UFC (8-0) and had fought in several smaller promotions.
His opponent, Phil Davis, was known for his strong ground game (namely American freestyle wrestling) and so, the matchup with a BJJ black belt had plenty of hype around it. It's a bummer that an eye poke snatched away a barn burner of a fight from the fans.
#1 Gian Villante vs Ovince St. Preux at UFC 159
Another UFC debut spoiled due to an accidental eye poke at UFC 159. Ovince St. Preux, who had a dominant run in Strikeforce, made his UFC debut against Gian Villante at the 2012 pay-per-view. OSP accidentally poked Villante in the third round as the latter was trying to evade his haymakers.
When referee Kevin Mullhall asked Villante if he was able to see from the poked eye, the fighter replied, "I can't see". Referee Mullhall immediately waved off the fight and awarded OSP a decision victory.
Gian Villante later accused the referee of stopping the fight too early and not allowing him the stipulated 5 minutes to cool off. in an interview with MMA Junkie, Villante expressed his frustration with the entire fiasco:
“Ovince knows he poked me, I know he poked me, but the ref, I guess, was watching the girl in the third row. I don’t know. I couldn’t see for a second. I just blinked my eye to try to get some fluid back in there. I would have been fine 30 seconds later. I thought I had five minutes. All I needed was 10 seconds. But they ended it.”
