Are eye pokes legal in the UFC? Justin Gaethje and others react as Chris Weidman fight ends with controversial decision

Despite his victory, Chris Weidman’s first win in four years has been overshadowed by controversy. The manner in which he defeated Bruno Silva, initially being awarded a TKO win after multiple eye pokes, has raised questions about the legality of such actions in the UFC.

Take a look at the original TKO announcement for the Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva fight:

After conducting a thorough examination of the fight’s conclusion, Weidman’s victory was reversed from a no-contest to a unanimous decision win. The unexpected decision sparked curiosity and garnered the interest of numerous notable MMA personalities on the internet.

Current ‘BMF’ champion and former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje recently criticized the UFC on X for not addressing eye pokes, specifically calling out their failure to utilize Trevor Wittman’s gloves.

The disagreement between the promotion and Wittman arises from the coach’s decision not to grant the UFC exclusive rights to his glove design.

“Too bad UFC don’t want to change those sh*t gloves.”

Diana Belbiţă also weighed in on the former UFC middleweight champion’s victory, suggesting that the outcome should be declared a no-contest instead.

“Common… It has to be No Contest!”

Megan Anderson, who previously challenged for the women’s featherweight title, expressed disappointment over yet another fight being stopped due to an eye poke.

“Another stoppage due to eye pokes, this is so unfortunate on all levels”

Belal Muhammad, a top welterweight fighter who has previously been affected by eye pokes resulting in the end of fights, also voiced his disagreement with the outcome.

“Punch a hole in his fudging eye”

A compilation of fighter responses is visible below.

Despite causing multiple eye pokes, Weidman remained in a celebratory mood following his contentious victory. Despite his recent struggles and injury setbacks, his main focus was getting back to winning, a sentiment echoed by UFC color commentator, Paul Felder.

Despite this, eye pokes are still considered a violation. According to the regulations, if an eye poke results in a fighter being unable to continue, the match will be declared a no-contest.

If it is determined that the eye poke was intentional or if the offense has occurred frequently, disqualification may be taken into consideration as well.