The Significance Of Eye Pokes

[DaysOfThunder]

Long before UFC started in the US, in Brazil they fought in Vale Tudo and Luta Libre, which were bare knuckle fights that among other things allowed groin strikes, head butts and head stomps. The only things that were not allowed were eye gauging and biting.
It is amazing that in today's sanitized UFC fighting, eye pokes still do not rate DQ, intentional or unintentional.
They go on about protecting the fighters, so you have a fair amount of premature stoppages, but they leave it to the discretion of the ref to take a point away and in most cases, refs do that after the second eye poke.
Anyone that has been poked in the eye knows how debilitating that is and some times five minutes rest is not enough to recover, much less continue fighting.
The point is that eye pokes can be much more of an injury { in some cases permanent } than groin shots and a groin shot can be enough to make you weak for more than five minutes and give your opponent more of a chance to finish you off.
UFC needs to change the rule for eye pokes. Once they do that, fighters will be more careful to lead with outstretched fingers. Even if someone's face is raked accidentally and as a result the eye gets injured, that should lead to an automatic disqualification.
There is no doubt in my mind that we would experience much less eye pokes.

 

[Psychojoe86]

The rules are changed, now the refs need to change, and so do the fighters. If we have consequences for the eyepokes, then the fighters will stop going for them

 

[GBJohn]

It’s simple,really. If you want a behavior to stop, make the consequences severe enough and they will.

 

[bigwaverider]

 

[mime]

Solution: steel eyeballs

 

[GSP_37]

I don't understand why they are so fucking slow to improve the rules. Give them Enter the Dragon or Mickey Mouse fingertip gloves. Give frequent eye pokers mandatory next 3 matches wearing closed fist boxing gloves. Whatevers, but do something. Penalty regardless of intentional or not because damage was done. Ref discretion 20 min recovery time, but you must open eye and show there was damage or redness.

 

[supnmunm]

It's not that hard to not swipe at a guys with your hand open. Penalize every eyepoke, accidental or not. No exceptions or excuses, just don't put your hand in someone's face with your fingers extended.

 

[NinjaSkillZ]

Simple my dudes