Reporter who profiles Jon Jones talks about the eyepokes

[BangWhosNxt]

It's on the refs to fix this. Obviously Jones doesn't give a fuck. If they don't start taking points on the first offense with Jones, nothing will change.

This.

His warning needs to be in the locker room before the fight starts. If he's caught with his arms extended and fingers out and connects his fingers to the face of the fighter, point gets taken away.

 

[SilvaMoney]

If they blind, they blind

 

[VonHalen]

DC should look for the eye poke every chance he gets. He should put his face in to Johns fingers and then act like a soccer player pretending to be fouled. He should take the full 5 minutes for each instance and when the first round takes 30 minutes the ref may start taking away Points.

Hahahaha. This all day.

 

[Break Brick]

cut his fingers off, problem solved.

 

[groo]

Hahahaha. This all day.

Actually DC should take the foul. As long as it is past the "no contest" point, then he will win by DQ...And get an immediate rematch and big payday....

 

[BVG]

Even if you take a point, a poked eye could still already have a massive bearing on how the fight plays out. A fighter with impaired vision, in pain, and worried he's going to end up like Darron Cruickshank is obviously not going to be fighting to his capability.

While I agree, if there is an eyepoke, and Jones loses a point, and yet there is no immediate damage to the other fighter...we would quickly see those eyepokes diminish.

If I was reffing a Jones fight, I would have a pre talk explaining to him that I will come down hard on his eye pokes, and will issue a warning on near misses. That he gets one warning before I start deducting points.

That's how you handle it.

 

[Irenaeus]

Personally, I'd like to see him make the effort to make his hand flat, if only because I'm really, really sick of every discussion involving the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet devolving into EYEPOKE EYEPOKE EYEPOKE, but I'm not the guy in the cage.

Although it's definitely a derailment, I don't consider it "devolving". After all, p4p discussions are of pure academic interest and mostly completly without any common criteria or definition accepted by the majority of the participants, while eyepokes, and to what degree fighters should be required to avoid facilitating them, is something that has a very practical effect on the fights themselves. It's actually a subject of some importance.

I'm not a fan of this being talked about only in relation to Jones, however. He's just the poster boy for it, but others do it as well, and it might be spreading unless steps are taken.

 

[Peikko]

Would it be legal for the opponent to grab the fingers that are pointing in his face?

I know it's not legal to manipulate small joints, but do the rules forbid grabbing the fingers even though it may lead to a small joint damage when the other guy pulls his hand free?

 

[Fugazi]

It reminds me of the Sean Avery shit, it wasn't illegal at the time but there's a certain unsportsmanlike conduct to it that just doesn't need to be there.

There's no reason he needs to keep his fingers extended, there are other options available to him but he knows damn well that the likely hood of an eye poke and subsequent advantage is to be had if there is one.
He's an accomplished and competent fighter that he doesn't need to do that.

 

[FlexBelt]

They need to make it a rule that if you extend your hand out like that, your palm should be facing the opponent with fingers pointed upwards instead of outwards.

 

[wu]

Eyepokes need to be sanctioned harshly. Refs should take a point away on the first eyepoke and DQ the fighter on the second eyepoke.
I have no problem with jon sticking his fingers out, but if an eyepoke happens and the referee establishes after watching a slow mo replay that it was indeed a legit eyepoke then a point should be taken away immediatley on the first offense and the fighter should be DQ'd on the second offense.
Eyepokes have no bussiness in MMA, the wy things stand right now they are basically semi-legal, which is just disgusting and ruins the whole MMA experience.

 

[DyinHawaiian]

Jon got poked by Gus and got upkicked hard illegally twice by Vera and took them like a man, I don't really think he gives a shit if someone fouls him tbh.

 

[DarthChen731]

The problem isn't him, it's the refs not enforcing the rules. If they started taking away points he'd be more careful and start turning to different techniques.

 

[Formwork]

GSP never eye poked anyone, just crushed their eye sockets with picture perfect jabs. Johnny "no jab" has the biggest reach in MMA, a pathetic excuse for a jab and an inability to maximize his reach advantage without losing control of his fingers. Anderson never eye poked anyone. Jose Aldo never eye pokes anyone. The best, technical strikers in mma have this under control. Jones inability to keep control of his fingers is a sad reflection for a guy heralded as #1 p4p. Johnny "no jab", should go to a Rory Macdonald clinic on how to jab and control distance without using cheap and illegal tactics. This guy needs to go back to school. Jackson's isn't getting it done for good, clean fundamentals.

 

[sparkyjohannsen]

He doesnt just extend his fingers to keep people at range, he rubs his fingers across their faces, causing eyepokes. Its like hes trying to make it look like an accident....hmm...also, as previously stated, chael sonnen should not be someone to take ethics advice from.

 

[Fizzee Water]

DC should look for the eye poke every chance he gets. He should put his face in to Johns fingers and then act like a soccer player pretending to be fouled. He should take the full 5 minutes for each instance and when the first round takes 30 minutes the ref may start taking away Points.

That would be the ultimate troll job and I would love every second of it.

=

 

[Jermei]

I wonder if Jon sharpens his finger nails before fighting? Or they check finger nails before fights.

 

[WendalClark17]

I'm surprised DC hasn't made mention of Bones and his tendancy to eye poke. It may at least get Herb Dean to make a warning pre-fight and deduct a point after the inevitable first eye poke.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Refs cant change the rulesbut maybe one warning thn tart taking points instead of warning and then ignoring the eyepokes for fear of fucking up the fight.

The refs need to issue a warning for open hands in the opponents face. Then if an eyepoke occurs, the fighter has already been warned, and a point can be deducted.

What with Bisping, Belcher, Cruickshank and others with long term eye problems from being "unintentionally" poked, this is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. And no, it is not just a Jones problem, though no other fighter has integrated the threat of eyepokes into their tactical approach as blatantly as he has.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

The problem isn't him, it's the refs not enforcing the rules. If they started taking away points he'd be more careful and start turning to different techniques.

It is both. If there is no problem with Jones' tactics, then why would they deduct points in the first place?

It is more accurate to say that the refs are the only ones who can solve the problem, because Jones is unwilling unless given incentive.