Eye Pokes in MMA. A pandemic that has gripped the sport for a number of years and an issue that is still rife today. After UFC 321’s main event was deemed a no contest due to an ‘unintentional’ eye poke to the champion, Tom Aspinall, by the challenger, Ciryl Gane.
It marks the first time that a championship fight has been deemed a ‘no contest’ in the cage, with the only other fight result being changed to a failed drug test, discovered after the fight.
A week later, there was massive controversy in another heavyweight fight between Ante Delija and Waldo Cortes-Acosta where the latter was allowed to sit down on a stool, have his team around him and go on to win the fight being eye poked, something that Tom Aspinall wasn’t afforded.