Sports
Dana White’s 2-Word Comment Designed to Reduce Eye Pokes That Injured Tom Aspinall
UFC boss Dana White has suggested that, while eye pokes will never be consigned to the scrap heap, there is a measure the organization can implement that would, at least, see a decrease in the number of times the foul creeps its way into a significant MMA fight.
Having been out of the Octagon since 2024, much was made about Tom Aspinall‘s return to the cage earlier this year, but his fight against Ciryl Gane was brought to a premature end when the Frenchman extended his fingers and caught the Brit in each of his eyes, compromising his vision, and prompting the referee to call for a No Contest.
Though the fans booed Aspinall at the time, he has since maintained that he remains injured. And it is not yet clear when he could return to training and sparring, let alone competition. This holds up the heavyweight division, and the championship landscape.
But White indicated that a fix for the problem could be in the works.
Tom Aspinall Savages Dana White Over UFC 321 ‘Quit’ Claim
The heavyweight champion held nothing back…
2 Words From Dana White to Reduce Eye Pokes in UFC
Speaking on the Triggernometry podcast, White said that the UFC has looked into a number of solutions to limit the amount of times an eye poke has an impact on an MMA fight. “We’ve messed around with gloves, we’ve tried to do all these things,” he said.
He then explained the “big talk” right now in the UFC comes down to two words.
For UFC execs and rule-makers, it is not a case of getting rid of eye pokes forever but, rather, making an example of those who commit the foul in the first place. “Guys would be a lot more conscious of it” as a result, he said.
He continued: “Because you always have these guys where you’re throwing punches, and I’m blocking your punches [with my hands out and fingers extended] and then you get a guy that reaches out to catch something and the other guy is coming forward, it’s going to happen. It doesn’t happen as much as it seems. I can’t remember the number … it’s like a hundred or something eye pokes over thousands of fights.”
Why Tom Aspinall Got Criticized
White then said why he thinks Aspinall, in particular, got criticized not because he was the victim of an eye-poke but, rather, his reaction to the whole ordeal.
“I think Tom took it a little too hard, but you’ve got all of these people [saying] ‘He quit!’ It’s easy to sit on the couch or sit in the chair and watch somebody get poked in the eye and go ‘oh [you quit]’ or get punched and knocked out. You go home, you recover, you get back in the gym, and we get back out and start fighting again.”
White previously suggested that the obvious fight to make next is a rematch of the Aspinall and Gane showdown, but considering Tom’s delayed return from injury, it remains to be seen whether Gane will instead fight for the interim title against an alternative opponent, and then meet Aspinall in a unification further down the line.
