A heavyweight bout at UFC on ABC 5 ended in unfortunate and gross fashion Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
A fired-up crowd of fans, who audibly clamored to see former Jacksonville Jaguar defensive end Austen Lane make his UFC debut, were instead dished disappointment when their home city fighter inadvertently poked opponent Justin Tafa in the eyes 29 seconds into their main card bout.
The fingers of Lane (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) appeared to go in both eyes of Tafa (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC). However, Tafa’s right eye in particular suffered damage. When the foul happened, referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in and called timeout. Lane was warned and Tafa was allotted five minutes to recover.
Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa is ruled a No Contest after one of the worst eye pokes you’ll ever see only 30 seconds into the fight pic.twitter.com/x4X4K9G3Fp
— Takedown Defense (@ChillemThreebo) June 24, 2023
For more than three minutes, a doctor and Miragliotta looked at Tafa, who repeatedly said he couldn’t see out of his right eye. Blood appeared in the eye area, though it was difficult to tell the direct source. The bottom eyelid appeared to swell shut and eventually Miragliotta waved off the bout.
Since the foul was deemed an accident, Miragliotta ruled the fight a no contest. According to UFC commentator Jon Anik, an argument between the two corners broke out during the commercial break prior to the official decision.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ABC 5 results include:
- Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa ends in no contest (eye poke) – Round 1, 0:29
- David Onama def. Gabriel Santos via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:13
- Brendan Allen def. Bruno Silva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:39
- Neil Magny def. Phil Rowe via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Randy Brown def. Wellington Turman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Loik Radzhabov via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:36
- Tabatha Ricci def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Joshua Van def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Chepe Mariscal def. Trevor Peek via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jack Jenkins def. Jamall Emmers via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sedriques Dumas def. Cody Brundage via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
