UFC could change eye poke rules after Joe Rogan | Sports News

The UFC could implement important rule adjustments following Tom Aspinall’s no-contest bout with Ciryl Gane final weekend – as Joe Rogan has already made his emotions clear on the matter.

Aspinall was defending his heavyweight title for the primary time at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, however the combat concluded below disappointing circumstances. After Gane started aggressively, the challenger by chance poked the fighter in each eyes close to the top of the primary spherical – with Dana White reacting to the incident.

The British fighter was allowed 5 minutes to get well, however involved followers when he knowledgeable the cageside physician that he could not see from his proper eye. Ultimately, referee Jason Herzog stopped the bout and Aspinall was instantly transported to the hospital for extra eye examinations.

Following UFC 321, quite a few figures within the MMA world have demanded the group modify its rules. Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson revealed that the promotion has mentioned upcoming alterations to the rulebook.

“It’s not Tom Aspinall’s fault,” Thomson said on the Weighing In podcast. “I talked to Jason Herzog. He planned on taking a point. It never got to that because Aspinall couldn’t continue. There will be changes and they will happen probably here pretty quickly.

Thomson subsequently noted: “There in all probability will likely be adjustments to the rules. And what I imply by adjustments to the rules is there’s issues coming as a result of clearly they do not need their main-events, their pay-per-view main-events, to complete like this. There’s already been discussions about how they could change the rules, what they will do.”

Thomson suggested that the referee should deduct a point from a fighter following a stern warning. He additionally urged the promotion to implement drastic modifications to their gloves.

The previous year, the UFC introduced new gloves in a bid to minimize eye pokes, cuts, and hand injuries, but the initiative was brief after proving unpopular with fighters, who voiced concerns about the discomfort. Ultimately, the promotion returned to its original glove design.

Just days following the pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi, Aspinall’s father and coach Andy disclosed his son remains unable to see from his right eye. In a recent video uploaded to Aspinall’s YouTube channel, he stated: “We received an appointment yesterday morning with a pal of ours, who’s one of the docs from the UFC. He received us a personal appointment to see an eye specialist yesterday [Monday].

“He kind of basically did the same as the guy we saw over there [in the States]. He said, ‘It’s bad, it’s not good’. But his eye is a little bit more closed than it was. His right eye, he still can’t see anything. He said it’s just grey. They tested him on words, he just couldn’t see anything. His left eye is 50 percent. He went down about four letters and just couldn’t see the letters. So one’s really, really blurry. And the other, can’t see anything.”

He added: “His vision in his eye that’s the best eye, his eye wasn’t following properly, so the muscles weren’t working strong enough. We’ve got to have additional tests this week, and he’s got a CT scan to see if the bone’s alright. But they think the bone is alright.”

Speaking about UFC’s eye pokes concern final yr, Rogan stated: “I keep saying it, but I feel they should cover those fingertips. You’ve got to cover the fingers. There’s no reason to not cover the fingers like a bad glove. Just have a piece of leather that goes over the fingertips, so you have one thing. It’s not gonna invade your grappling, and it’s not gonna change your striking. It’s not going to change anything.

“This manner, not less than in case you get poked within the eye you’re getting a blunt factor, you aren’t getting one thing that goes into your eyeball. Have all of them coated and have a soft-foamed ridge excessive of it. So even in case you are getting poked within the eyes, you aren’t getting an particular person factor going deep into your eyeball with an eyeball, which is what you get now. You get f– fingernails!”