Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo watched on this weekend as another fighter became the victim of a nasty eye poke in a main event.
Cejudo’s hopes for a first win since returning from retirement were dealt a blow last month in Seattle, where he headlined against Chinese standout Song Yadong.
After a difficult first two rounds, “Triple C” was the victim of a deep eye poke in the third. And after the 2008 Olympic gold medalist was deemed unable to continue, an unpunished “Kung Fu Kid” took home the victory by way of technical decision.
The ex-flyweight and bantamweight kingpin spent the subsequent days criticizing referee Jason Herzog’s handling of the situation. And one of his fellow officials has come under fire after yet another UFC Fight Night main event result was marred by a foul.
Manel Kape was the headline winner inside the Apex this weekend, stopping Asu Almabayev in round three. The finishing sequence, however, included a clear poke or scrap of the Kazakh’s left eye, leaving him compromised as “Starboy” swarmed for the TKO.
After witnessing another fighter fall victim to what is undoubtedly a frequent foul in the UFC, Cejudo sent a stark warning out on social media.
“Eye pokes are the greatest threat to the growth of this sport (unbiased) #UFCVegas103“
While Kape appeared well on his way to a definitive victory on March 1 regardless of the foul, which was not spotted by Mike Beltran, that hasn’t dimmed the concerns of many when it comes to the impact eye pokes could continue to have on prominent bouts in the sport’s leading promotion.
