Horror moment Aussie UFC star thought his eyeball had been ripped out after fight had to be called off following the sickening scenes
- Justin Tafa suffered shocking eye-poke
- Aussie thought his eye had been ripped out
- Tafa believes he should be given win bonus
Aussie UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa is furious after copping a brutal accidental eye poke that left him bloodied and thinking his eyeball had been ripped out on Sunday morning.
The 29-year-old’s fight against Austin Lane lasted just 29 seconds and ruled a no contest after one of the more sickening eye-poke’s in recent history at UFC’s Fight Night in Jacksonville.
Early in the opening round, Tafa launched a left hook, only for Lane to jam his left hand into Tafa’s face.
Lane’s fingers poked into both of Tafa’s eyes forcing referee Dan Miragliotta to a call time-out.
The Aussie’s eyes swelled up instantly and started to bleed forcing the bout to be called off.
Justin Tafa thought his eyeball had been ripped out after a sickening accident on Sunday
‘I thought my eyeball had been ripped out, honestly,’ Tafa told the Herald Sun after the bout. ‘That’s why I turned around and stepped away,’
‘The first thing I was thinking was, ‘Can I see my kids again?’
‘I didn’t even care about the fight, I thought my eyeball had come out of my face.
‘I just hope it’s not really bad damage. Everything’s blurry now. I can see your face, but everything’s just blurry.’
The no contest ruling doesn’t sit well with Tafa who claims he deserves the win.
Taking to Twitter after the bout, he made posted a photo of his injuries and made his case.
‘I should get my WIN bonus,’ he wrote afterwards.
‘That’s a DQ.’
Lane, a former NFL player for the Jaguars, apologised for the incident on Twitter.
Tafa says his first thought was if he would be able to see his kids again
Tafa was annoyed about the incident and believes he deserves a win bonus
‘Not how I wanted it to go down,’ he wrote.
‘That s*** is on me and I hope your eye is alright.’
The UFC commentary team were appalled by the injury, and clearly concerned for Tafa’s well-being.
‘That’s as bad as it gets, that’s half the digit and Tafa was leaning into it,’ said Jon Anik as the replay showed the incident.
‘His entire hand went into his eye,’ said UFC great Daniel Cormier said.
UFC pros also took to social media to share their concern and disgust.
‘That eye poke was vicious oh my goodness, his eye is bleeding,’ wrote Aussie star Casey O’Neill.
‘Get this guy to a hospital jeez,’ said Brian Kelleher.
‘Ugh that was a bad poke he’s needs to go to the hospital,’ wrote Belal Muhammad
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