Former UFC champion Michael Bisping is speaking out after another high-profile eye poke incident highlighted a recurring problem in mixed martial arts. Known for losing his right eye during his career, “The Count” has firsthand insight into the severity of such injuries.
The issue came to the forefront last weekend at UFC 321 when heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall was poked in the eyes by Ciryl Gane late in the first round. The injury left Aspinall temporarily unable to see, and the fight was quickly ruled a no contest. In the immediate aftermath, Aspinall told the referee, “I can’t see,” and days later he still struggles with vision in that eye.
Bisping’s Proposed Fix
Bisping addressed the recurring eye poke problem on his YouTube channel, offering a detailed approach to rule changes.
“Going forward there needs to be a change because, as I said, almost every event there’s been eye pokes. Accidental, intentional, unintentional, whatever you want to call it, they happen,” Bisping said. “The rule right now is, because we have the fingers out the fingerless gloves, the rule is we have to have the fingers up. I hate that rule. It’s stupid.”
Bisping suggests fighters maintain closed fists when not actively striking or parrying.
“When you’re on your feet, you have to have a closed fist. Simple as that. Not tight, not squeezed, not clinched, but the fingers bent in an almost fishlike kind of shape. Maybe if you’re throwing a kick, because when you throw a kick a lot of people the arm comes down to accentuate, then you can open the fist a little bit. When you’re parrying a jab, or a straight right, you can open the fist. But if you’re not engaging, you have to be like this (hands closed). And of course, if you’re throwing a punch, you have to have your fist closed,” he explained.
The former champion also outlined consequences for failing to comply:
“If you don’t, the referee straight away, without stopping them, says, ‘Hey, fingers. Fingers,’ so they know to close them a little bit. If they continue to do it, they say, ‘One more time, I’m going to take a point.’ And if they continue doing this, you stop the fight. They say, ‘You have been warned on multiple occasions, you are losing a point.’ Simple as that. If they do poke them in the eye, they take a point regardless whether or not it was intentional or unintentional. It doesn’t matter.”
Fighter Responsibility
Bisping emphasized that athletes must take ownership of their actions inside the cage.
“Sometimes, accidentally, they do happen, but we need to be responsible for our weapons. And if we know that if one happens we’re going to lose a point, and in a three-round fight, that is massively impactful. If that happens, there’s going to be a lot less eye pokes,” he said.
He also reinforced that strict enforcement benefits the sport overall:
“And if someone accidentally pokes someone in the eye and it wasn’t intentional, well, hard lines, so what? Who cares? The sport will improve. Less fights will get cancelled. There will be less injuries, and situations like this will not occur. And I guarantee most fighters would be on board with this,” Bisping continued.
“The Worldwide Athletic Commission should all say, ”Right, that’s it’ going forward to hopefully eradicate eye pokes. We’ve just got to make a fist. It is the most simple fix in the world.”
UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane will have a rematch to resolve the inconclusive finish at UFC 321.
