UFC president Dana White doesn’t believe an eye poke in the UFC 252 main event can be used as an excuse.
Stipe Miocic put his heavyweight gold on the line against Daniel Cormier in a trilogy bout on Aug. 15. The two were 1-1 against one another going into their final encounter. Miocic ended up getting the nod via unanimous decision.
Dana White Dismisses Using Eye Poke As An Excuse
Throughout his trilogy with Miocic, Cormier has been known to get his fingers in the eyes of Miocic. This time, however, Miocic had the worst accidental eye poke that closed “DC’s” eye. Speaking to reporters during the UFC 252 post-fight press conference, White said the eye poke can’t be used as an excuse (h/t MMAJunkie).
“You can’t look at the eye poke and take that away. There were two eye pokes – they both got poked in the eye, and that eye was hurt before the poke,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after UFC 252. “We’ve got a big group text that goes on, and I was like, ‘There’s something wrong with Cormier’s eye,’ and then he got poked after that. That didn’t help, but they both got poked – you can’t use that as an excuse.
“I think his eye was hurt before the poke and the poke definitely didn’t help. But you can’t look at the poke and say, ‘Oh, the poke.’ Stipe got poked hard, too. They both got poked.”
Cormier says he’s sticking to his retirement plans after the defeat to Miocic. The 41-year-old is still an elite fighter but he recognizes that the window of competition doesn’t stay open forever. White has said that he hopes Cormier continues fighting but would be happy for him regardless of whether or not he sticks with retirement.
As for Miocic, he further cements his legacy as a heavyweight great. Some even consider him the heavyweight GOAT, although Fedor Emelianenko fans would like to have a word with those people. With the win over Cormier, however, it seems there’s no doubt that Miocic is the best heavyweight to ever compete in the UFC.
