Jorge Masvidal is calling for a major crackdown on eye pokes in UFC fights, pushing for automatic point deductions and purse penalties for offenders.
Masvidal wants referees to act immediately when an eye poke occurs, with financial punishment built in. He suggests a system where a portion of the offending fighter’s purse is taken and awarded directly to the fouled opponent.
“Go Japan style,” Masvidal said. “Hit him with the yellow card right away. Pay deductions and points. I’ve been eye poked in a fight two different times and one of them actually stuck with me for, like, three weeks. Colby [Covington’s] bitch ass f*cking dug his nails in my eye and that was, like, three weeks later I was still seeing spots and it was bad and my eye was swollen, I had to go to the doctor to get it checked. I had to get medication, antibiotics on my eyes, it sucked. It happened with [Lorenz] Larkin as well and it was really, really bad. Both eye pokes were horribly bad.”
Masvidal claims he has “never eye poked anybody” in over 50 professional fights and argues that referees can often recognize when fouls are intentional. He proposes escalating purse deductions — potentially up to 20 percent — tied to a yellow card-style system, with the money going only to the opponent: “[The money goes] to the other fighter. Not to no commission, not no damn commission.”
Eye pokes are described as a recurring source of controversy in the UFC, and Dustin Poirier is noted as agreeing that severe eye pokes should be addressed immediately rather than after repeated warnings.
