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Eye Pokes in MMA – How to Eradicate a Major Issue

Originally posted on MMA Sucka | By Frazer Krohn | Last updated Nov 3, 2025 10:08 AM ET

Eye Pokes in MMA. A pandemic that has gripped the sport for a number of years and an issue that is still rife today. After UFC 321’s main event was deemed a no contest due to an ‘unintentional’ eye poke to the champion, Tom Aspinall, by the challenger, Ciryl Gane.

It marks the first time that a championship fight has been deemed a ‘no contest’ in the cage, with the only other fight result being changed to a failed drug test, discovered after the fight.

A week later, there was massive controversy in another heavyweight fight between Ante Delija and Waldo Cortes-Acosta where the latter was allowed to sit down on a stool, have his team around him and go on to win the fight being eye poked, something that Tom Aspinall wasn’t afforded.

There are a number of issues when it comes to eye pokes in MMA and it appears that there are also a number of fixes to these issues.

We take a look at some of the most prominent issues surrounding eye pokes in MMA and look at what can be done to eradicate them from the sport.

Eye Pokes in MMA – The Key Issues and How to Solve Them

As per the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (from the Association of Boxing Commissions), set out rules around eye pokes in MMA as follows:

Fingers outstretched toward an opponent’s face/eyes: In the standing position, a fighter that moves their arm(s) toward their opponent with an open hand, fingers pointing at the opponent’s face/eyes, will be a foul. Referees are to prevent this dangerous behavior by communicating clearly to fighters. Fighters are directed to close their fists or point their fingers straight up in the air when reaching toward their opponent.

What this implies is that any eye poke will be deemed a foul. As we know, referees go to the locker rooms of fighters before they make the walk in order to communicate the rules, ask any questions and confirm that the fighter is happy. Here comes point one in which we can eradicate eye pokes in MMA.

Eye Pokes in MMA – Point 1 – Instant Point Deduction

The referees must continue to inform fighters of the rules before they make their walk to the octagon. This includes the rules regarding eye pokes, specifically that they must be either making a fist, or have their fingers pointing straight up in the air.

This acts as the first warning. There is no second warning. The first instance of an eye poke in a fight situation it’s a point deduction. The referee can consult the monitor if needed to determine whether the strike was legal or not. If it were legal, the fight must restart immediately; if it wasn’t, a point is taken.

If the fighter who was fouled cannot continue, the fight will be awarded to them via disqualification. Seems harsh on the fighter who committed the foul? There is no doubt that fighters will certainly not go into fights with their fingers outstretched anymore, through fear of a DQ.

UFC legend Michael Bisping suggested that even if an eye poke doesn’t occur, but the fighter’s fingers are outstretched towards their opponent, they should be afforded a single warning before having a point deducted. This is also an extremely valid option.

For Bisping, the image below of Chris Weidman would warrant a point deduction (assuming that the referee has already warned him of the prior offence). In this fight, Weidman clearly poked Bruno Silva in both eyes before scoring a TKO victory. This was later overturned to a technical decision due to the eye poke.

In this case, the commission recognises the eye pokes are the reason that Weidman got the victory, so why this one wasn’t overturned to a no-contest or a disqualification in favour Silva is baffling.

Eye Pokes in MMA – Point 2 – New Glove Design

During April 2024, fans were excited at the prospect of ‘new’ UFC gloves. By February this year, they were outlawed completely. What this shows is that the UFC are willing to adapt its glove design. Dana White claimed that the new glove design was created with the intention to stop eye pokes, however, fighters weren’t happy with them.

‘If at first you don’t succeed, give up and allow your employees to suffer’ appears to be the UFC’s mantra when it comes to eye pokes. The current glove design all but forces fighters’ fingers out, however, it isn’t as if they’re the only design available.

MMA coach, Trevor Wittman founded ONX Sports, who specifically design gloves to deal with eye pokes in MMA. They force the hand into a more curved shape, demonstrated by Joe Rogan below.

If the UFC don’t want to go down the route of Wittman’s gloves, they’re not the only option out there. The old PRIDE gloves are similar to those of Wittman’s design, curving the hand but not preventing grappling exchanges. It seems like a simple, logical fix, however, the UFC appears reluctant to adopt a new design.

Below is a picture of the PRIDE gloves (left) and the current UFC gloves (right). We can see how the UFC gloves force the fingers out, whereas the PRIDE gloves curve the hands into more of a fist shape.

Confusion over the Wording of Rules and Decisions

Here comes the confusing part of the current rules. There is massive confusion as to the wording around the rules of eye pokes in MMA.

There is an understanding that any intentional eye poke can be punished with a point deduction or a warning. However, how can the referee truly determine what is intentional and what isn’t?

Ariel Helwani made an excellent point on his MMA show last week as he commented on the difficulty around the wording of the ‘rules’. He questioned why the UFC 321 main event wasn’t deemed a disqualification. The reason behind this is that referee Jason Herzog deemed the eye poke ‘unintentional’.

But should it have been a disqualification? Gane was warned in the first 30 seconds of the bout about the position of his fingers. He then defended a takedown with an open hand towards to eyes of Aspinall and then, of course, we have the final eye poke that stopped the fight.

Eye pokes in MMA – Point 3 – Clear, consistent wording and definitive rules

As we saw previously, the rules state that the referees are to warn the fighters by communicating clearly if they deem their movements (with their fingers) to be dangerous and potentially in breach of the rules.

There is no wording in the ABC’s rules regarding intention, therefore, Herzog shouldn’t have been able to make the call. Only Cirly Gane knows if his eye poke was intentional and the assumption is that if you are putting your fingers out towards the eyes of your opponent, the intention is there.

Eradicate any confusion around ‘intention’. The referee cannot make the call. As we said earlier, regardless of ‘intention’ or not, the first offence of an eye poke is a point deduction.

This eradicates any controversy around consistency as the same, clear, consistent rules are followed.

Referees also must be consistent with the treatment of the fighter who has been eye poked. Tom Aspinall wasn’t afforded the luxuries of Cortes-Acosta a week previously. Why was the latter allowed his corner team in the octagon? Why was he allowed a stool? Why was he allowed more time to recover? We broke all of this down on the MMASucka podcast which can be found here:

Can we ever truly get rid of eye pokes in MMA? It’s unlikely, but we can certainly discourage fighters from fighting with their fingers outstretched.

This article first appeared on MMA Sucka and was syndicated with permission.

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