Credit score: UFC/ESPN
Henry Cejudo, himself the sufferer of a fight-ending eye poke only a week in the past at UFC Seattle, didn’t mince phrases within the aftermath of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 103 principal occasion.
“Eye pokes are the greatest threat to the growth of this sport (unbiased),” Cejudo, a former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, wrote on social media following the occasion.
Saturday’s headliner between Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev began out quick and livid, and by no means actually slowed down. But it was marred by uncalled fouls, as in each the second and third rounds, Almabayev appeared to have his eye grazed by Kape’s fingers.
In spherical two, the motion was halted after Asu Almabayev complained, with Kape voluntarily backing off. Referee Mike Beltran turned to the assessment official for help, who dominated no foul had transpired. The motion began again up nearly as quickly because it had stopped, mere seconds later. But the UFC’s personal replay confirmed that Kape’s “punch” had been open handed, and it did seem that Kape’s fingers had grazed Almabayev’s eye.
The attention poke in spherical three, which led to the end, was way more apparent, besides to the ref, who didn’t catch it. One other open-handed graze had Almabayev wincing and motioning for a day trip. When it wasn’t forthcoming, he turned tail and fled. Turning your again on an opponent is a straightforward solution to result in an finish to a struggle, and with Kape chasing him down and throwing, Beltran shortly stepped in to wave the affair off.
Whatever the fouls, Kape was effectively forward within the struggle, and appeared dominant. Right here’s how a few of “Starboy’s” fellow fighters reacted to UFC Vegas 103’s flyweight principal occasion:
Eye pokes are the best risk to the expansion of this sport (unbiased) #UFCVegas103
It was definitely worth the anticipate Kape’s daughter! 😂👏🏼 #UFCVegas103
Manel Kape fights for the belt subsequent!! Nice efficiency! #UFCVegas103
Kape is deserving of a title struggle! Regarded wonderful and in complete management tonight
There’s just one finest flyweight on the planet 😉
In the event that they made eye pokes authorized they wouldn’t occur anymore
