![LFA 175 bout called off after Vinicius Pires (right) eye-poked Apollo Gomes (left) in the second round [Photo Courtesy @grabaka_hitman on X]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/15174-17064709902618-1920.jpg)
![LFA 175 bout called off after Vinicius Pires (right) eye-poked Apollo Gomes (left) in the second round [Photo Courtesy @grabaka_hitman on X]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http%3A//www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns%3Axlink='http%3A//www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20viewBox='0%200%2010%206.25'%3E%3Cfilter%20id='b'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20stdDeviation='.5'%3E%3C/feGaussianBlur%3E%3CfeComponentTransfer%3E%3CfeFuncA%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20type='discrete'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20tableValues='1%201'%3E%3C/feFuncA%3E%3C/feComponentTransfer%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20filter='url(%23b)'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQF/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAIM0nu//xAAjEAAABQIGAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEBQARBgcSExchMmPS/9oACAEBAAE/AIzLDDrpAXa0hIIuUibNkm5RJ4ab2E9ccQpegfvQAPQT6r//xAAYEQEAAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAEDMf/aAAgBAgEBPwDfVgmzfZ//xAAYEQEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQADQf/aAAgBAwEBPwDQYk5eZ//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
With no UFC event on January 27, many MMA fans turned to LFA 175, with one particular fight on the card creating post-fight discussions on social media.
Bantamweight prospects Apollo Gomes and Vinicius Pires faced off in the first fight of the main card but fought to a no contest after an eye-poke from Pires was declared unintentional and rendered Gomes unable to continue. However, due to the nature of the foul, some fans on social media claimed the poke was intentional.
The brutality of Gomes' injury was graphic enough to cause videos of the incident posted on X (formerly Twitter) to be censored.
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Discussing the ending of the fight on Reddit, more fans began to claim that Pires intentionally stuck his fingers out to poke Gomes' eye for various reasons.
Joking about the incident, one fan called the penalty a 'Mortal Kombat fatality.'
![Fan reaction to eye-poke during Apollo Gomes vs. Vinicius Pires at LFA 175 [via r/MMA on Reddit]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/c72bc-17064713902784-1920.jpg)
Other fans jokingly called the eye poke a 'jab-poke' and the 'Jon Jones special.'
Fans commented:
"That was basically a jab-poke"
"F*** man, that wasn't an eye poke, he kept that s*** in and took a feel around in there"
"Jon Jones special"
"That was 100% intentional. Fingers held together to create a spear. Should be a DQ"
"He touched brain"
Apollo Gomes responds to suffering eye poke at LFA 175 fight with Vinicius Pires
With some hardcore MMA fans excited for the return of Apollo Gomes at LFA 175, his main card fight with Vinicius Pires did not go as planned.
Midway through the second round, Gomes suffered a vicious eye poke from Pires while attempting to step in and land a cross. The fight was called off shortly thereafter as Gomes claimed he lost vision in his right eye.
Frustrated, Gomes released a statement on Instagram expressing his discontent though not placing direct blame on Pires.
Despite not yet competing for a major promotion, some fans were familiar with Gomes due to his training at Chute Boxe Diego Lima with fan-favorite UFC fighters Charles Oliveira, Elves Brenner, and Polyana Viana.
