Jeff Hughes on no contest fight with Todd Duffee: I don't think it was an eye poke.

[KazDibiase]

Chatting to MMA Junkie after the event, Hughes said he was in good condition after the contest, and joked

“This is the best my body’s ever felt after a fight, that’s for sure!

“I thought it was one of the funnest rounds I’ve ever done. It ended bad, but we can take a lot of good things from it, too.”

Hughes explained that he was ready to weather an early storm from Duffee, whose past fights suggested he would come flying out the gates throwing heavy leather from the very start of the bout. But Duffee started in more circumspect fashion, which surprised Hughes slightly.

“I was expecting that explosion that he does in every one of his fights, but this fight I could see that he was sitting back,” he said. “To me, that’s a sign of respect for my power, because he usually rushes in like a madman.

“He’s strong, athletic, but I wasn’t hurt in that fight. I know they probably counted one as a knockdown, but it was more of an off-balance thing. I got right back up, it was no big deal.”

After briefly being sat down by a Duffee right hand, Hughes bounced back up and started to find success with his own shots, with one slashing left hook leaving his opponent with a nasty cut on his right cheekbone.

But, shortly after that strike, Hughes and Duffee found themselves on the mat against the fence, where Hughes’ open hand made contact with Duffee’s face as he looked to reposition. Duffee claimed an eye-poke, and the bout was halted immediately to allow him time to recover.

Looking back on the incident, Hughes was doubtful over whether he had actually poked Duffee’s eye, and actually thought his opponent was playing for time after a whirlwind start to the contest.

“I thought he was trying to catch a breather,” Hughes admitted. “I get it, we were going hard for almost five minutes. I thought we were going to continue and we were going to try to take each other’s heads off again. But once the doctor was in there, I knew it was no good. They tell you in the back ‘If there’s an eye-poke, we’re going to ask you how you are, and we’re going to try our best not to bring a doctor in.’ So once I saw the doctor in there, I knew it wasn’t looking good for me.”

“I don’t think it was an eye-poke,” he suggested. “It might have grazed him, I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of worse eye-pokes in the last couple of months, and people still fight. So, I don’t know. I’m in there to fight, and I was expecting to go another couple of rounds and was ready to turn it up. I felt like momentum was in my corner, you know? I was starting to put it on him, he was busted up and, I don’t know, that happened and, man, it ended a little too quick.

“Usually, you can feel (when you eye-poke your opponent). Even in the heat of battle, you can still feel all that. I’m not calling the guy a liar, but I’m here to fight. I don’t know if he was looking for a way out, or he’s getting gassed or what. It was just very disappointing how it ended.”

Hughes admitted he’s unsure whether he’s going to see any of the possible win bonus that both he and Duffee missed out on as a result of their no-contest, but the 31-year-old from Canton, Ohio – who got married just a week before the fight – explained just how much of an impact earning that portion of his paycheck would have on his life and family.

“I’m praying for the best, man,” Hughes said. “Especially at this level, the difference is tremendous, and it’s almost life-changing for me. To pay off the wedding and help pay off my wife’s student loans would be great right now. That’s all I really care about. I really don’t buy many materialistic things, and I don’t really care about all that. But to take care of my family is No. 1.”

And the man known as “Lights Out” says he’s ready and willing to jump straight back into action as soon as possible.

“I’m not a dirty fighter, man,” he said. “I love to fight, and I try to fight by the rules. It’s just how it goes. I have no injuries, my face isn’t marked up or anything. I’m just ready to get back in there and fight, as soon as possible.”

If that means an instant rematch with Duffee, Hughes is more than happy to oblige. But he also said if his next bout ends up taking him in a different direction, he had another possible option he’d like to pursue.

“If (Duffee) wants to go in there and finish what we started, yeah,” he said. “But if he doesn’t, there’s a couple of guys in the weight class that I know need fights and that would be good fights for me. My very first fight was supposed to be against Daniel Spitz and that didn’t happen – I’m not sure what happened on his end, but I’m willing to run it back.

“I’d fight every weekend if they let me. I don’t know a whole lot of guys who get married, then go out and fight the next week. So, like I said, I’m a gamer, I’m ready to fight again and I hope the UFC gets me a fight quick.”

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[MillingMeSoftly]

Duffman wanted out of that fight

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Duffman wanted out of that fight

Probably. But i think its bullshit they basicly force you to fight before you recover from an eye poke. Ive been poked in the eye and it fucks your vision up for a short amount of time. Give these fighters some time FFS!

 

[CerebralKnievel]

Probably. But i think its bullshit they basicly force you to fight before you recover from an eye poke. Ive been poked in the eye and it fucks your vision up for a short amount of time. Give these fighters some time FFS!

The eye poke rules never seem to make sense to me. You're supposed to get 5 minutes to recover from an illegal blow, such as with groin strikes, but with eye pokes the referees all constantly harass the fighters and demand that they tell them if they're ok. Of course they aren't. So you're either ok in which they pressure you to restart immediately, or you say you aren't, and they end the fight.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Ive been poked in the eye

lol who hasn't

 

[dittohead84]

It looked like an eye poke. Clearly his index finger was used if you look at the replay

 

[executionermma]

Duffee threw everything he had at Hughes and gassed out doing so, then tried his hardest to find a way out, shame..

 

[Mike K.O]

The eye poke rules never seem to make sense to me. You're supposed to get 5 minutes to recover from an illegal blow, such as with groin strikes, but with eye pokes the referees all constantly harass the fighters and demand that they tell them if they're ok. Of course they aren't. So you're either ok in which they pressure you to restart immediately, or you say you aren't, and they end the fight.

The refs don't fully understand the rules
For example, the 12-6 elbow rule should only apply when the fighter's head is on the canvas
But nobody seems to care and all 12-6 elbows are banned
Bush league

 

[Medulla Omoplata]

The refs don't fully understand the rules
For example, the 12-6 elbow rule should only apply when the fighter's head is on the canvas
But nobody seems to care and all 12-6 elbows are banned
Bush league

says who?

 

[chrisdiaz]

He was breathing HARD and wanted out. he kept asking for more time cause he couldnt breathe. Hes been out a while but he was clearly didnt have any cardio.

 

[EVIL WAR GOD]

They could have atleast given Duffee the full 5 minutes to recover. Yeah Duffee was bitching out for time but he was within the rules to ask for more time. I saw the thumb go into his eye, only Duffee knows how bad it was. The referee and Dr should know the rules, he gets up to five minutes.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

The eye poke rules never seem to make sense to me. You're supposed to get 5 minutes to recover from an illegal blow, such as with groin strikes, but with eye pokes the referees all constantly harass the fighters and demand that they tell them if they're ok. Of course they aren't. So you're either ok in which they pressure you to restart immediately, or you say you aren't, and they end the fight.

I'm not gonna lie, ive seen some really nasty eye pokes where the fighters clearly could not continue in a reasonable amount of time without hindering their ability to see, but 9/10 times the fighter is completely recovered by the time bruce buffer anounces the results.

So somebody logically explain why it was so crucial to not give the fighter a few minutes to regain his eye sight before waving off the fight?

 

[Vegeta]

Jeff should lose some weight.
You are a pro Jeff, yes you are.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

lol who hasn't

No shit sherlock, my point is, these refs and doctors should know it takes a few minutes for your sight to completely restore.

 

[chinarice]

Probably. But i think its bullshit they basicly force you to fight before you recover from an eye poke. Ive been poked in the eye and it fucks your vision up for a short amount of time. Give these fighters some time FFS!

I have zero idea where the consistency is on eye pokes. Some guys get up to 5 minutes, no questions asked while others are told they have no time to recover and decide on the spot whether or not they can continue.

 

[Huligani]

Duffee wasn't blinking at all. His eye was perfectly fine, he just wanted out.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

I have zero idea where the consistency is on eye pokes. Some guys get up to 5 minutes, no questions asked while others are told they have no time to recover and decide on the spot whether or not they can continue.

If i had to take a guess with my tinfoil hat on, i would say 5 minutes cost them more sponsor $$$ then the fighter in question is being payed.

 

[Airdack]

Duffy not only robbed us of a full fight. He robbed his opponent of a chance to bring home double his paycheck and possibly a performance bonus. Because Todd was scared and gassed, he decided to not only fuck the fans, but fuck his opponent financially.

Hope Duffy retires and never shows his face in the octagon again.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

No shit sherlock

If you acknowledge everyone here has been poked in the eye at some point, why did you feel the need to explain to people what it's like being poked in the eye? Man, you BASIC!

 

[Blayt7hh]

He definitely got poked in the eye that parts not really debatable. How much damage it did is I guess