UFC: Justin Tafa feared his ‘eyeball had been ripped out’ by gruesome eye poke
Justin Tafa feared his ‘eyeball had been ripped out’ by Austen Lane. He remains enraged by both the cageside doctor and the referee after his opponent got away with it, writes BRENDAN BRADFORD.
UFC
Don't miss out on the headlines from UFC. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Justin Tafa thought his eyeball had fallen out, and wondered if he’d ever see his kids again in the moments after he copped one of the worst eye pokes in UFC history against Austen Lane in Jacksonville this weekend.
Tafa also says the fight should have been ruled a disqualification, and hit out at the conduct of the cageside doctor who inspected the shocking injury.
The heavyweight bout was just 27 seconds old when Tafa went reeling after a finger on Lane’s left hand went straight into his right eye.
The eye swelled up immediately, and even started to bleed as the cageside doctor was called to inspect it.
One of the most brutal eye poke in the UFC ends the fight between Austen Lane and Justin Tafa 😢#UFCJacksonville
— Combat Sports Today 📰 (@CSTodayNews) June 24, 2023
pic.twitter.com/lnGzKnni1N
The bout was called off and ruled a no contest due to an accidental eye poke.
Speaking to this masthead from hospital as he awaited the results of scans, the swelling around Tafa’s eye had gone down, but he still hadn’t regained his vision.
“I thought my eyeball had been ripped out, honestly. That’s why I turned around and stepped away,” he said. “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.”
Tafa, who was on an impressive two-fight win-streak before the weekend, also had a cut on the bridge of his nose from another of Lane’s fingers.
The 29-year-old father of two says Lane – a former NFL player – should have been disqualified for the eye poke.
“When the referee comes in for the rules meeting before the fight, he says you can’t have your hands up like that,” he said. “There’s only one outcome if your hand is up like his was, and that’s disqualification.
“He actually got both my eyes and (Lane) was trying to say it was accidental, but in footy if your shoulder hits the head, it doesn’t matter, it’s a red card.
“If you broke the rule, you broke the rule. He had his fingers out, got me in the eye, and he should be disqualified.”
Tafa was given the regulation five minutes to see if the wound would get better, but after just two minutes, blood was seeping out of his eye, and his eyelid had swollen shut.
“It’s bleeding. It’s actually bleeding. That’s a wrap. If you can’t see, that’s a wrap,” said exasperated former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in commentary.
“His entire hand went into his eye.”
Cormier and fellow commentator Jon Anik were both shocked the bout wasn’t stopped immediately, and Tafa says the cageside doctor tried to pressure him to keep fighting.
“He (the doctor) was saying, ‘Are you sure you want to stop, the crowd’s here, they’re not going to be happy’,” Tafa said.
“He kept trying to press me. I was like ‘I’m bleeding out of my eyeball, what do you want from me? To never see again in my life?’
“I couldn’t believe he gave me the full five minutes after seeing it bleeding.
“The doctor kept saying, ‘Are you sure, it’s not gonna be good, the crowd’s not gonna like it’.
“Bro, I don’t give a f**k about the crowd.
“Very unprofessional from that doctor to try and persuade me to keep fighting and maybe lose my eyesight.”
Tafa and Lane were both furious with the outcome, but shook hands and shared a word in the cage immediately after the stoppage
“That’s as bad as it gets,” said Anik. “An anticlimactic conclusion to say the least, but one of the worst eye pokes I’ve seen in recent memory.
“We’ll see if they run that back in the not too distant future.”
There was better news for the other Aussie on the card earlier in the night, with Jack ‘Pharjack’ Jenkins picking up a split decision victory over Jammal Emmers.
Named in honour of Pharlap, ‘Pharjack’ edged a razor thin decision with scores of 29-28 29-28 and 30-27 against the rangy Emmers.
Jenkins and Emmers remained on their feet through the first two rounds, with Jenkins sending powerful leg kicks and Emmers attempting to keep him at bay with his long jab.
Emmers finally managed to get the bout to the mat in the third frame, but couldn’t do much with the position as Jenkins recorded his ninth consecutive win and second straight victory in the UFC after debuting in Perth in February.
Originally published as UFC: Justin Tafa feared his ‘eyeball had been ripped out’ by gruesome eye poke
The dodgy paperwork that launched UFC career of Aussie star
Growing up, Cody Haddon saw things ‘that a kid shouldn’t be exposed to’. A path to prison could easily have been the one he walked down, but the rising Australian UFC star had other ideas.
Watch: Incredible moment Tafa found out his opponent pulled out
Junior Tafa had spent the morning talking about how he was going to knock out Chris Barnett, without knowing a vicious cyclone had derailed his plans. Watch his exclusive reaction to the news here.