The UFC heavyweight division was in a well-recognized mess at UFC 321. The title match ended at 4:35 of the primary spherical when champion Tom Aspinall was unable to proceed because of a double eye poke from Cyril Gane. The bout was declared a no-contest, marking the primary time a UFC title struggle ended on this method because of an unintentional foul. Later, when UFC President Dana White addressed the media, this was his response: “It is going to occur. Yeah. I imply, it doesn’t matter what I do with the glove, it will occur.”
UFC 321
This assertion represents the UFC’s place on points which have plagued the game for years. Based on analysis by the UFC Efficiency Institute, eye pokes happen roughly as soon as in each 14 fights and may delay a struggle by a median of fifty seconds. Nonetheless, regardless of the frequency and severity of those fouls, promotions have proven that they do nothing to deal with the basis causes.
The incident at UFC 321 was notably brutal. Whereas throwing a punch, Gehn by accident hits each of Aspinall’s eyes on the similar time. The champion was given the customary 5 minutes to recuperate, however 4 minutes later he was nonetheless telling ringside medical doctors that he was “blind.” Mr Aspinall was then taken to hospital. When followers on the Etihad Enviornment booed the sport, a pissed off Aspinall responded: “I received poked within the eyeball knuckle deep. What ought to I do? I did not poke it. I am blind!”
White confirmed {that a} rematch shall be scheduled as quickly as Aspinall is cleared by medical doctors, saying: “It is a ache, however sure.” The UFC president additionally praised Gane’s efficiency earlier than the foul, saying, “Lots of people criticized Gane after the Jon Jones struggle. He appeared actually good tonight.”
UFC gloves
The detrimental nature of White’s feedback stands in distinction to the rising criticism from fighters, analysts, and the broader MMA group. When requested what it might take to deliberately poke somebody within the eye and what they might do to repair the issue, White replied: “Who is aware of? Who’s going to provide it as-? What are they going to do?” He then talked about the UFC’s failed glove redesign, saying, “It doesn’t matter what you do to the gloves, that is going to occur.”
This glove redesign represents one of many UFC’s current makes an attempt to deal with eye pokes. In April 2024, the promotion launched a brand new pair of gloves named “3Eight/5Eight.” That is designed to offer extra mobility and suppleness whereas decreasing eye protrusion and hand accidents. The glove debuted at UFC 302 in June 2024 and featured a redesigned curvature geared toward conserving fighters’ fingers in a extra pure place. Nonetheless, after simply 5 months and 21 occasions, the UFC deserted the brand new gloves and returned to the unique design in November 2024.
The rationale for the switchback was fighter complaints about consolation and efficiency, not eye poke stats. White admitted: “There have been numerous complaints. We initially made these gloves to forestall eye punctures. We made them with good intentions. It did not work. Folks weren’t pleased with it.” The examine discovered that the brand new gloves lowered the knockout fee by 8.5 p.c in comparison with the previous design. The return to the basic glove turned everlasting, with White stating, “The brand new glove is now the previous glove.”
Famend MMA coach and founding father of ONX Sports activities, Trevor Wittman, designed a glove particularly designed to forestall fighters from extending their fingers towards their opponent’s eyes whereas sustaining hand mobility when grappling. A number of martial artists who’ve examined the Whitman gloves praised their effectiveness and luxury. Nonetheless, the UFC reportedly wished to purchase the patent to Whitman’s design fairly than enter right into a licensing settlement, and Whitman declined the provide. This glove has by no means been utilized in a UFC match.
punishment
The enforcement aspect of the attention poke problem is equally problematic. Below the present MMA Uniform Guidelines, eye pokes are labeled as intentional or unintentional on the referee’s discretion. An unintentional poke within the eye normally leads to a warning, and factors are not often deducted till the participant commits a number of fouls. Nonetheless, eye pokes are not often thought-about intentional.
The lax enforcement created what many noticed as a strategic benefit for fighters in search of to push the boundaries. “It is not the gloves, it is the tradition,” stated Jim Miller, a veteran of 45 UFC fights. “It is not the gloves, it is the tradition. Most guys appear to have that shameless, win-at-all-costs mentality within the fighters and the mentality that ‘poke within the eye is an accident, not a foul.’ Mr. Miller known as for rapid level deductions and pockets deductions for eye pokes, arguing, “I consider that not solely level deductions, however pockets deductions can have a speedy influence on the variety of pokes that we see.”
For the reason that starting of 2024, just one fighter within the UFC has had factors deducted for a watch poke. In the complete historical past of the promotion, there have been solely 20 fights by which a fighter obtained factors deductions and went to determination. Since 2005, there have been seven fights within the UFC that led to no contests because of eye pokes.
Former UFC referee Massive John McCarthy has advanced his place on the problem and now advocates computerized level deductions no matter intent. “Intention would not matter, nothing issues,” McCarthy stated. “Each time a referee sees somebody stick a finger out they usually put a thumb or finger of their eye socket, there is a level deduction. It is an computerized level deduction.” However McCarthy acknowledged that such a rule change would “by no means go” the Boxing Fee and Martial Arts Affiliation because of issues about instantaneous replay necessities and the influence on necessary matches.
pierce the attention, gouge the attention, scrape the attention out
Eye pokes can have severe and everlasting medical results. A examine inspecting eye accidents in skilled blended martial arts from 2001 to 2020 discovered that 57 fighters required ophthalmology clearance after eye accidents sustained throughout competitors and had a median non-contact interval of 8.9 weeks. Corneal abrasions from poking the attention trigger extreme ache, extreme lacrimation, and photosensitivity, making it practically unimaginable for a fighter to proceed. Blunt ocular trauma may cause retinal detachment, nerve injury, and excessive intraocular strain, which may trigger everlasting imaginative and prescient loss if left untreated.
Well-known martial artists have had their careers modified after being gored and sustaining eye accidents. Jake Matthews has revealed everlasting eye injury from having his eyes gouged out by Li Jingliang. Pedro Munhoz suffered a corneal abrasion from Sean O’Malley at UFC 276 that left him blind in his proper eye for 20 minutes.
The UFC 321 incident sparked a variety of reactions on social media. Nonetheless, the MMA group expressed dissatisfaction with each the end result and the UFC’s continued inaction. The Reddit dialogue emphasised that the worst final result is normally a warning, so there is no such thing as a deterrent for fighters to have interaction in eye pokes. Some argued that given Gane’s foul historical past, he shouldn’t obtain a rematch. Some questioned whether or not Aspinall would have been in a position to proceed, however medical specialists stated the accidents had been extreme, with fingers penetrating each eyes “knuckle-deep.”
Gane apologized after the match, saying, “I did not do it on objective. I received a watch poke once I fought Derrick Lewis, and I’ve fought two Derrick Lewis’s in a full spherical, so I do know what a watch poke is.” He expressed disappointment that the struggle ended prematurely regardless of a powerful begin, together with touchdown a jab that drew blood from Aspinall’s nostril.
The attention poke at UFC 321 comes amid rising frustration over foul play throughout the game. In February 2025, Henry Cejudo was unable to maintain repeated eye pokes from Track Yadong and suffered a technical determination loss with no penalty. In September 2024, Nassoordin Imavov landed two eye pokes towards Caio Boralho, including to his 4 eye pokes in his final three video games and not using a penalty. In March 2025, Roman Dorise repeatedly fouled Marvin Vettori with a watch poke regardless of referee Herb Dean’s warnings, however no factors had been scored.
White’s declare that eye pokes happen “it doesn’t matter what you do with the glove” is contradicted by proof from different glove designs and stricter enforcement mechanisms. PRIDE FC or RIZIN gloves had a curvature that saved the fingers in a barely bent place, decreasing the flexibility to increase the fingers into the opponent’s eyes. The Wittman ONX gloves use the same precept with added wrist assist. The UFC had each choices however selected to not pursue it.
Coach and former fighter Brad Pickett defined:
“Once you put your hand in[RIZIN’s glove]your fingers naturally curl down. It is actually laborious to totally lengthen your hand, so it helps stop poking. The answer may be very easy.”
The group’s reluctance to introduce harsher penalties additionally goes towards the best way fouls are dealt with in different main sports activities. Within the NFL and NBA, penalties are persistently assessed no matter intent, creating a transparent disincentive to rule violations. MMA continues to function in what observers name a “grey zone,” the place guidelines are utilized selectively and fighters can commit a number of fouls with no penalties.
For now, the UFC’s place seems to be unchanged. Based on White, eye pokes are “simply one thing that occurs,” and the promotion continues to rebook matches interrupted by fouls fairly than addressing the basis trigger.
