Gillian Robertson says the referee for UFC 269 fight against Priscila Cachoeira didn't give her opponent a warning for eye gouges.
Late in the first round, Robertson took Cachoeira's back, got ahold of her neck, and was sinking in a choke. However, as she was putting on a squeeze, Cachoeira was gouging her fingers into the eyes of Robertson. It happened two times, which Joe Rogan and the rest of the UFC commentary team said was a very dirty move. However, according to Robertson, the ref never gave the Brazilian a warning.
"I’m definitely just hoping that the referee stops the fight at that point. Like, I don’t even think he gave her a warning because there was two that were pretty clear that I felt decent that was like thumb straight in my eye," Robertson said after UFC 269. "But I was just trying to squeeze, squeeze. Before the first one, I actually felt her body go limp a little bit, so I thought she was out, and then I felt the thumb go straight in my eye. I was like, ‘Oh, she’s not out! OK!'”
Although Priscila Cachoeira was gouging her fingers into Gillian Robertson's eye, the Canadian ended up pulling off the submission as the Brazilian tapped with just one second left in the first round. With the win, she now has the most finishes in the flyweight division in the UFC.
However, the fight will be more known for the controversy from Cachoeira missing weight and eye-gouging. Yet, Robertson says she holds no ill-will towards the Brazilian.
“I’m fairly easy-going, I guess, so it is what it is. Making weight, I feel like that is a big thing. Literally, as a fighter, you have two jobs: You have to make weight, and you have to show up. So it’s like she failed at doing one of those jobs. So I definitely don’t think that’s an ‘OK’ thing, but it is what it is, and I still got the win. I still did what I needed to do, so nothing I can complain about," Robertson concluded.
What did you make of Priscila Cachoeira eye-gouging Gillian Robertson?