Ah, the classic MMA controversy, a fighter gets poked in the eye, chaos ensues, and suddenly, half the internet thinks they’re an optometrist. This time, it’s Henry Cejudo in the crosshairs. And who better to sum up the absurdity than Aljamain Sterling? “Remember guys, he’s ‘faking it’ (FACE PALM),” he commented sarcastically on an ESPN MMA Instagram post. Deja vu, anyone? The former 135lbs champ knows a thing or two about getting torched for an injury claim. Just ask the people who still call him ‘Aljo the Actor’ after his fight with Petr Yan. But let’s be real, do we honestly believe ‘Triple C’ chose to fight with one functioning eyeball for the fun of it?
Enter Brendan Schaub, who went full throttle on this nonsense. “There’s nothing worse than poking a guy in the eye. In any sport.” And just to drive the point home for those who still don’t get it, he laid out the perfect analogy. “Ask Tom Brady to throw a football with one eye, it’s pretty f—ing tough. Ask the receivers to catch the football with one eye, it’s damn near impossible.”
And yet, here’s Henry Cejudo, rocking nothing but compression shorts, stuck in a steel cage, fighting a top killer of the division, with one eye! Well, none for that matter considering the poke worked wonders for both of Cejudo’s eyes! But what does the referee, Jason Herzog do? Hits Yadong with a gentle “Hey, don’t do that again.” That’s it. That’s the consequence.
Here’s the thing, every other major sport figured out ages ago that illegal fouls need immediate consequences. NFL? Helmet-to-helmet hit? Flag. NBA? Swing an elbow? Technical foul. MMA? Unintentional eye poke? Oops, sorry dude, hope your retina survives!
The former UFC heavyweight added further, “Was there some sort of point taken away for a n-t kick or an eye poke? An illegal hit is an illegal hit. If Song Yadong would’ve f—ing done an illegal elbow to the back of the fu—ng head, would you be singing the same tune? No!” He drove it home even harder, “Any eye poke across the board, finger in the eye, thumb in the eye…we’re taking a point.” Because, shocker, fighters don’t generally appreciate getting their corneas rearranged!
Henry Cejudo, who just returned after a year off, had his title aspirations nuked because of this mess. Diagnosed with multiple conditions, the 38-year-old tweeted his frustrations after the bout. “Diplopia, Soft Tissue Damage, Corneal Abrasion. ‘hE wANteD a wAy OuT’ #UFCSeattle,” Along with this, he also posted a picture of his damaged eye after getting his injury assessed by medical professionals.
And it is safe to say that Schaub and the former double champ weren’t the only ones with some seething words. Former 155lbs champ Rafael dos Anjos took to X and tweeted, “Ref should take a point from Song. Eye poke like that can change the fight #UFCSeattle.”
Meanwhile, former 135lbs champ Aljamain Sterling stated, “Big eye poke from Song. Would like to see the rest of this fight stay clean and keep the fight fair for both #UFCSeattle.” Former TUF alumnus Jason Miller tweeted his shock, “WEIRDEST NIGHT EVER.”
To add to the horror, the former champ’s plea for a rematch fell on deaf ears. “Dana, I know you said you’re not interested in a rematch, dude, let’s run it back.” But Dana White, of course, shrugged it off like a man whose weekend plans do not include booking a Cejudo-Yadong sequel. And just like that, the conversation shifted from Cejudo’s future to the bigger picture.
The former heavyweight isn’t the only one who’s over this ridiculous trend. Michael Bisping, a guy who literally lost an eye thanks to unchecked MMA fouls and the mythical ‘TRT Vitor Belfort’, initially thought Cejudo was overreacting. That is until he actually listened!
Will Henry Cejudo’s eye poke get the usual UFC brush-off?
So when Cejudo turned to Bisping after the fight and said, “We’re about to be brothers,” it almost felt prophetic. But just not in the way he’d hoped. If the UFC keeps treating eye pokes like minor infractions, ‘Triple C’ might soon find himself inducted into the ever-growing ‘damaged eye club’, swapping war stories with ‘The Count’ about life with compromised vision. Bisping, who knows the brutal cost of unchecked fouls all too well, didn’t mince words in his post-fight reaction. “Number one, I think we should’ve seen a point deduction,” he said, no doubt recalling the painful surgeries he endured after Vitor Belfort’s shin left him permanently damaged back in 2013.
“The eye pokes, people need to know that there’s f—ing consequence. Eye pokes are terrible, you know all about my history with the eyes.” No kidding, Mike. He now rocks a prosthetic eye and has literally popped it out on camera just to prove a point. The former middleweight champion has a simple solution, make eye pokes cost something. “If you start taking points, people will stop stretching their f—ing fingers out,” he added. And he’s right.
Right now, fighters extend their hands with all the caution of a toddler discovering a hot stove for the first time. You’d think they’d learn, but no, not until there’s a real punishment, they’ll keep testing the waters. But how long is the UFC going to pretend this isn’t a problem? At least Sterling got to silence the “faking it” cries with a win over his Russian counterpart at UFC 273. That illegal knee could have killed a normal person by the way!
And at the end of the day, fighters aren’t asking for much. Just a little fairness. When one cheap shot can derail an entire career, maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the UFC to act. Or is it just another ‘part of the game’ that fighters are to accept? Because if that’s the case, someone better let the NFL know, they’ve been doing it all wrong. What do you think? Should the UFC crack down on eye pokes, or is this just part of the fight game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The post “Ask Tom Brady to Throw a Football With One Eye” – UFC Veteran Goes Off at Referee After Henry Cejudo’s Controversial Loss appeared first on EssentiallySports.
