"Laura Sanko called that one perfectly" - MMA world reacts as UFC Vegas 85 sees fastest UFC no-contest after nasty eye poke

UFC Vegas 85's second main card bout ended in disastrous fashion, as Aliaskhab Khizriev, an unbeaten Dagestani, accidentally poked Makhmud Muradov in the eye, rendering him unable to continue and leading to a disheartening no-contest to what was once a highly anticipated middleweight bout.

Check out the Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov eye poke:

Not only did the matchup end in anticlimactic fashion, a tweet shared by renowned MMA journalist Mike Bohn revealed that the bout tied the UFC Fight Night 80 matchup between Kevin Casey and Antonio Carlos Junior for the shortest no-contest in the promotion's history.

Both fans and prominent MMA figures reacted to the fight's premature conclusion on X. One fan groaned at the idea of purchasing the card only to see a no-contest finish:

"Imagine paying that much just to see a doctor stoppage"

American actor Jason Hartley praised UFC color commentator Laura Sanko for accurately predicting a corneal abrasion for Muradov due to the eye poke. He tweeted:

"Sanko called that one perfectly. Well done."

This was echoed by another member of the promotion's broadcast booth, Jon Anik. Taking to X, the commentator wrote:

"Thankfully Muradov wasn't bullied into trying to continue after taking a finger right in his eye socket. Was really looking forward to more than 0:11 in that matchup! S/o to @laura_sanko on the cans for diagnosing the likely corneal abrasion from the booth."

Meanwhile, other fans called on the promotion to adopt Trevor Wittman's glove design to prevent future eye pokes.

"We need Trevor Wittman's gloves to prevent this"

A collage of reactions from renowned MMA figures can be seen below:

The first wave of reactions to Aliaskhab Khizriev's eye poke

Check out another collage consisting of reactions largely of MMA fans:

The second wave of reactions to Aliaskhab Khizriev's eye poke

The middleweight bout ended in unfortunate circumstances, especially given how snake-bitten Khizriev's tenure in the promotion has been. The unbeaten Dagestani has had numerous bout cancelations, and his matchup with Muradov was one he hoped would be his sophomore win in the UFC.