UFC Jacksonville experienced a grisly foul when Austen Lane‘s eye poke caused Justin Tafa‘s eye to bleed profusely, ending the contest in just 29 seconds.
UFC Jacksonville featured a gruesome foul during a main-card heavyweight contest between Austen Lane and Justin Tafa that ended the fight in just 29 seconds. An accidental eye poke by Lane, while exchanging punches with Tafa, drove deep into Tafa’s right eye, causing blood to stream from his mangled peeper, creating a nightmarish scene for both the fighters and the audience.
After some deliberation between the cageside physician and referee Dan Miragliotta, the bout was ruled a no-contest, as Tafa was in no condition to continue. The MMA world was shocked, and fighters took to Twitter to express their concern for Tafa’s condition. Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) tweeted, “Ugh that was a bad poke he’s needs to go to the hospital.”
Other fighters echoed similar sentiments, with Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) saying, “Get this guy to a hospital jeez,” and Erik Jon Koch (@NEWBREED04) adding, “Worst eye poke I have seen for a while.” Moreover, Jake Hadley (@JakeHadleyMMA) tweeted about his experience with eye pokes, “Man eye pokes are the worst I experienced this once before in the gym I literally thought I had lost my eye sight spent Xmas eve in a&e #UFCJacksonville.” Jared Vanderaa (@Jaredvanderaa) also commented, “Damn that is horrible.”