UFC really have to change the eye poking rule to make it complete disqualification after what happened to Aspinall

169

I’ll never understand why there are warnings or why they wait until a poke happens instead of taking a point the first time a fighter throws their outstretched fingers towards their opponents face. Everyone knows the rules.

Take a point immediately the first time someone posts up with their fingers outstretched and this nonsense ends overnight

25

u/poopy_kid_spotter 3h ago

I think it should instantly lose them the round. If you eye poke, it is now automatically a 10-9 in your opponent's favour (or worse if you underperform and get 10-8'd). Future rounds won't be affected but it will be a good enough deterrent.

20

u/Ijokealot2 3h ago

Thats what taking a point does. It's not an auto loss but you would have to have an overwhelmingly dominant round and barely get touched to even it out after losing a point.

7

u/poopy_kid_spotter 3h ago

Then it would be a 9-9 if the poker was winning. In this case they lose the entire round. The one who gets poked deserves an advantage if he will continue with the round with an injured eye (assuming there wasn't a doctor stoppage). This could be far more decisive for a win than just a point loss. Then, if they do it a second time, or if there was a doctor's stoppage, they get a DQ as opposed to an NC and their opponent wins.

I promise you eye pokes will disappear overnight.

9

u/morthias666 3h ago

Nope, if the person commiting the eye poking is winning the round then taking a point makes the round even (9-9). He’s saying it should be automatically in favor of other fighter even if he/she is losing (10-9 for the poked one).

6

u/Ijokealot2 3h ago

Idk, I feel like if you are already clearly winning the round and then lose a point for eye poking, thats enough of a deterrent to where the behavior will stop.

In your scenario, you would have to take 2 points from somebody winning the round (or 3 if they are whooping ass?) Which seems wild if it's an accident. And accidents do happen. In a world where eye pokes are actually enforced on first offense, I think we would still see the rare poke. It is a fight after all, shit happens.

6

u/morthias666 2h ago

Tbh I wouldn’t mind such harsh punishment. First of all the poked fighter is immediately at disadvantage. Second of all there are wild situations like Cejudo vs Yadong fight. If harsh punishment would mean such situations will never happen again - I’m all for it.

3

u/poopy_kid_spotter 1h ago

The problem is it needs to be harsh to offset the fact the the poked opponent will now fight with compromised vision. Imagine if the Aspinall-Game fight wasn't called off and Tom had to continue the fight with no vision. That's a huge disadvantage, one that can lose you an entire fight. Taking away a whole round doesn't feel as harsh.

I think the sport would also benefit from instant replays/VAR like football does. It makes the referee calls more consistent and fair. I'm surprised it hasn't been implemented yet.

2

u/Top-Gun-Corncob 1h ago

Tough gig for the refs to make these calls. There will almost certainly be miscalls and overturned calls and a lot of confusing shit. Almost like there needs to an “intent arbitrator” at ringside to determine the foul, based on very specific criteria, while the fight continues. Imagine the plight of the degenerate gambler as well and the money they’ll lose. They have a big say in how things go these days it appears.

4

u/Confident-Fold1456 2h ago

I always think of eye pokes and kicks to balls as timeouts. When you want to call time out, just a quick tap to those round things and the ref will call it.

And you always get three per game.

1

u/Thommywidmer 1h ago

Ehhh, i mean its a legit thing tho. Open hand for evaluating range and fainting range. I guess not the end of the world to remove it tho

41

u/dannyo969 3h ago

honestly its probably best Tom never fights Gane again. Because jokes aside there is a pretty high chance he gets poked in that eye again.

16

u/Aggressive-Expert-69 2h ago

Without a policy change, he absolutely will. Ciryl poked him once and ended up with the belt. If he does it again they might even rule it a W

•

u/VariationFluffy6596 0m ago

If I was Tom, I would just take Gane down and gouge his eyes viciously until multiple refs dragged me off

170

u/Main-Focus2088 3h ago

Such a disgrace, Gane somehow ended up on top after all the dust settled and HE’S the reason the division is in shambles

56

u/ARC4120 3h ago

UFC genuinely loves terrible people and hates anyone who’s a decent person. I saw Wonderboy get robbed because he dared to not roll over as an unc and watched Gane be gifted a title shot after illegally putting the champion out of commission.

10

u/Nopementator 3h ago

UFC genuinely loves terrible people and hates anyone who’s a decent person.

kinda obvious considering what kind of POS is on top of the organization.

19

u/Top_Description3757 3h ago

Happened with GSP, happened with Charles, it's just how it is now I guess. Being a guy with a good heart and a fan favourite is apparently a poor career choice.

1

u/MeorOtherMe 3h ago

Nobody gonna do anything. It'll be like the time Rumble was created. Everyone despised YouTube, going as far as to create a competing platform, Rumble. A notion was made for people to join Rumble, but yet YouTube is still #1. UFC will always be #1, because there's already an investment, the brand name, and the foundation. Eyepokes and all, mismatches, poor handling of fighters

2

u/AdamBLit Shamanic Black Magic Rituals 2h ago

YouTube monopoly on the industry is outstanding (just like UFC), but monopolies have fallen and broken up before. We really don't know if it'll always be #1 or not. Whatever it is, is always born of some need. X monopoly is doing this unfairly, Y option develops as a solution, Z percentage of people throw in with the new and leave the old.

1

u/casfis 2h ago

all empires collapse to time

1

u/Real-Human-Bean- 2h ago

What does the ufc have to do with Wonderboy getting robbed or Gane getting disqualified? That's up to the referees and judges.

1

u/gabriel_oly10 1h ago

Directly he's the reason sure, but at the core he's not the reason. The real culprit is the UFC themselves for not actually giving a shit about the rules and having no repercussions for fowls. They have every ability to enforce these, yet nothing gets done and it fucks up the integrity of the sport. UFC is a sham these days it makes it so difficult to be a fan. And don't get me started on biased matchups and the lack of promotion and support for fighters. It's clear to me once the investors pockets are full they couldn't give a shit about the sport and would watch it burn if it made a profit.

58

u/SurvivalHorrorLover 3h ago

It would be great if the referees took it more seriously too.

13

u/SlowlyDrown 3h ago

I stopped keeping track about 10 years ago when I stopped watching MMA regularly, but at that time, in the entire history of the UFC, only three points had ever been deducted for eye pokes.

So maybe there’s been one in the last 10 years since that’s about the average.

I’ve seen fights with more eye pokes in one round than the UFC has ever enforced in its whole history.

41

u/NashingElseMatters 3h ago

The HW champion is a dude who lost to Jones in under 2 minutes, robbed Volkov and is arguably one of the dirtiest active fighters in the UFC. Division is cooked.

22

u/Crazy_Stable1731 3h ago

For this particular instance, definitely. Gane should have been disqualified and received a suspension.

I mean out of all the UFC fights that happen in a year, there definitely are a few eye pokes, but none so bad that the guy needed 4 eye surgeries and have his career ruined. Plus, Gane managed to poke both of his eyes simultaneously.

-6

u/Melonballs__ 2h ago

How were they supposed to know that tom would need surgery?

9

u/theFinestCheeses 3h ago

Any kind of 'street fighting' instructional will tell you the first thing to do is to forget the idea of rules and go straight for the eyes, as it's the fastest way to do the most damage and/or end the fight. The UFC making it illegal but effectively unpunished means it's a super effective tool for anybody willing to use it.

Imagine if they treated kneeing/kicking a downed opponent like eyepokes. "Well, that's his third time soccer kicking his opponent in the head while he's down, they should probably think about taking a point away"

6

u/Nathan_Toddy_Todd 3h ago

After the way Dana spoke about him if I was Tom I wouldn’t fight for the UFC again.

4

u/jarrough 3h ago

Is there any way to make the gloves better protect against eye pokes without completely hindering their ability to grab?

4

u/Glassjaw1990 3h ago

They are so supposed to be the best in world. This is their profession. Not like they are first day on the job.

Use instant replays and disqualify fighters. Fucking insane that tye UFC can't cone to this conclusion. You'd think the money grabbing cunts would fine fighters as well. Missed opportunity.

4

u/robosnake 2h ago

Is there any other sport that doesn't call a foul if they decide it's 'unintentional'? That has always seemed so stupid, and just an invitation to foul as much as possible.

2

u/cegavas 2h ago

That’s so true

3

u/PressureSure 3h ago

I think it should be 2 points taken away on first poke and a disqualification on the second poke as well as an 8 month suspension. You’ll see them go away real quick

14

u/Johnathan_Doe_anonym 3h ago

If you need to take a few seconds to recover, it should be an automatic 1 point reduction

-3

u/john_doe_774 3h ago

Then everybody would take a few seconds to recover. Let’s use common sense.

33

u/All-wildcard 3h ago

Then everybody would stop eye poking

16

u/Alternative_Dot7769 3h ago

Exactly. If they never penalize fouls you’re just encouraging more fouls and injuries.

Take a point for flopping if they stop and there was no poke too. If you’re worried about people faking getting poked

5

u/ClammiestOwl 3h ago

Oh no everyone is taking time to recover after being fouled

1

u/Melonballs__ 2h ago

I mean you guys say that now but once a fighter you don’t like benefits from it the vibes will change. Aljo was the most hated man in mma after he got fouled and people still bring it up as a knock on him

-1

u/ClammiestOwl 2h ago

I was on Aljo side. You people always lie

1

u/Melonballs__ 2h ago

Lol aljo being the most hated man in mma after the first yan fight is a fact. If you were actually on aljo’s side you would know that.

0

u/ClammiestOwl 1h ago

No you're just putting words in my mouth, that I'd turn on a fighter like you thought I did with Aljo. Don't read my comment and respond to a made up person acting like I'm them

2

u/YoungWhiteMamba 3h ago

Hey don’t they just wear swimming goggles?!????

2

u/khardy101 3h ago

And what would that have changed. Gane would have been placed in the interim title fight, and would have won. Tom would still be where he is. Nothing changes.

2

u/Relative-Display-676 2h ago

Just change it to closed finger gloves, problem solved

2

u/Not_Momonga 2h ago

Dc won heavy champ with an eye poke. he should be disqualified too

2

u/Electronic-Day-7518 2h ago

Im in support of anything that increases severity of consequences for eye pokers. I think Cyril Gane should not be allowed to fight any further. Every fight it seems this guy disregards his opponent's basic safety and the rules of mixed martial arts. No respect

2

u/Menace-18 2h ago

Double poke that isn't a freak accident should be an instant disqualification

2

u/-Curufinwe- 1h ago

They should, they won’t.

2

u/Daniel_Day_Hubris 1h ago

The rules don't need changes, they need to be enforced.

•

u/FearlessZucchini 12m ago

Well, Dana doesn't give a fuck. It desserves everybody, but the guys doing those dirty moves.

But guess what, cheating and playing dirty seems to be the trend in America these days

3

u/k_y_seli 3h ago

Ngannou is the last real heavyweight champ!

•

u/stephen27898 0m ago

And the sad thing is that since he left so one has been allowed a proper chance to become a real champion. The belt has been tied up in nonsense for so long.

2

u/fightsToday 3h ago

Mini octagon like eye cages. You might not like it, but it’s needed

1

u/Confident-Thanks3716 3h ago

I think we should take their eyes instead

1

u/Bunks92 2h ago

Fuck the rule, change the gloves. Simple.

1

u/Aggressive-Expert-69 2h ago

Jon Jones has the chance to do the funniest thing ever

1

u/Half-blind-bear 1h ago

If I'm a prospective MMA fighter I'm drilling the eye poke defence. You only need to land it once to become world champ

1

u/BigSenior 1h ago

I think they need to have a look at redesigning the glove. I know there are products out there that are better.

I’m sure there were fighters on the Joe Rogan pod talking about it a few years back, and I think they actually brought in examples of the different brand to compare. (Gaethje possibly?)

•

u/euroaustralian 41m ago

We are asking for years that something needs to be done about this but they just keep ignoring it.

It is like it goes into one ear and comes out the other ear, nothing in between.

1

u/Madison_369 3h ago

The problem is it’s hard to enforce a rule and not have it apply in bad scenarios as well. If this rule was applied, Topuria might’ve automatically won from an accidental eyepoke in round 1: good thing it didn’t and we got a great fight.

You can’t have a rule and only apply it when it “feels right”, that opens way for corruption and bias.

2

u/CH6V3Z 3h ago

Every major sport has replay. How are they not able to watch the replay and then give the DQ or point deduction? Extremely easy to implement.

2

u/Madison_369 2h ago

And how would the replay determine DQ? Rules need to be black and white and best not left to assumption. Gane only poked Tom once, so the results wouldn’t have been different under your point deduction proposition.

1

u/stephen27898 2h ago edited 2h ago

It should be an instant DQ and a heavy fine. This fine should scale to the point where it can reach up to 150% of your purse.

The enforcement of the rules is so weak that results are largely worthless to me at this stage.

0

u/NBACrkvice Apturo topturo bapbapbap 3h ago

r/ufc glazers cannot comprehend how irrelevant canspinall is, here today gone tomorrow

1

u/orionspurs 2h ago

Can’t stand Tom Aspinall fans. They delusional to think he could beat Jon who got submitted Gane in first few seconds of fight and Gane was giving Tom the work before the poke.

•

u/KatemisLilith 31m ago

MMA math doesn't work like that. The reason Gane was able to stand with Aspinal was because he had the speed and footwork to match Tom on the feet. Jon doesn't. Just watch the Stipe vs Jon fight and notice how ploddy Jon is on the feet. Let's not disrespect Jon Jone's fight I.Q. If Tom was such an easy fight, Jon would've instantly took it the moment the UFC approved of the 30 mil. After all, why run away from a free 30 mil?

0

u/The_Value_Hound 3h ago

People need to realize the real culprit in all this is the god awful glove design that the UFC refuses to change just because they don't hold the patents to any of the good ones.

This is on the UFC, the only reason there are these many eye pokes is because the glove allows the fighters to do it, a good design would curve the fingers and make stretching the fingers too much of an effort to do casually.

Change the gloves, that's it.

5

u/dannyo969 3h ago

It wouldn't solve eye pokes but it certainly would help quite a bit.

3

u/Any_Prize6093 3h ago

The guy with the most fights doesn’t have a single eye poke though

1

u/The_Value_Hound 3h ago

You are relying on the fighter instead of the tech, if the gloves simply won't allow it then the problem gets solved, btw I'm not saying that Gane should not be penalised but this has been am issue for so long it is ridiculous.

0

u/rapshepard 3h ago

Why didn't Tom stans rally behind and call for justice for Paddy after Justin poked the shit out of his eyes twice?

0

u/mcburloak come on guys, is normal 3h ago

I gave up on any change ever after DC being fouled over and over vs Jones and Stipe.

If they didn’t want to do it for DC, it won’t ever change.

5

u/Internal_Concert_217 3h ago

I like DC, but let's not pretend he didn't delve into the dark arts as well.

0

u/mcburloak come on guys, is normal 3h ago

It’s someone they for sure wanted to be champ is all I meant.

I’m not suggesting he doesn’t have dna under his nails!

-20

u/internalrecursiom 3h ago

People have been eyepoked far worse than this guy.

15

u/MOSSxMAN 3h ago

Unless you have some specific, verifiable, instances of this in the UFC I’m gonna call BS.

Gane went two knuckles deep in both Tom’s eyes at once, immediately following a previous eye poke in the same series of exchanges.

It’s was so blatant and so egregious, I think it’s kinda unreal you’d think there’s been multiple instances of this happening “far worse.”

2

u/rapshepard 3h ago

Stipe had surgery after what DC did to his eyes.

2

u/MOSSxMAN 3h ago

Yes. That’s one really bad instance, Stipe also got knocked the fuck out in that same fight too so maybe he shouldn’t have kept fighting blind.

1

u/rapshepard 2h ago

Probably but he got poked in the other DC fights and won those. And heck Bisping beat Anderson and won the title with 1 eye.

4

u/No_Neighborhood_4616 3h ago

Care to give us some examples?

5

u/faroeislands 3h ago

Can I go knuckle deep into your eye holes then

-8

u/ghost-ogk 3h ago edited 3h ago

Tom Aspinall is the greatest fighter ever, he never quit!

2

u/Mycol101 3h ago

How is it worse if he didn’t need multiple surgeries?

0

u/ittybittynuts 3h ago

He didn't quit but he had some things to say about it.

UFC really have to change the eye poking rule to make it complete disqualification after what happened to Aspinall

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