Weidman scores controversial eye poke win in UFC Fight Night

MANILA, Philippines – Chris Weidman might have staved off retirement and gotten back into the win column this past UFC Fight Night last Sunday, March 31. 

However, it came at a controversial cost if not infamy as he is the first UFC fighter (and probably in the entire MMA world) to have won a fight while getting away with four eye pokes, not getting any point deducted, or not even disqualified for doing so multiple times.

One instance occurred in the controversial final sequence of the third round as Weidman’s middleweight opponent, Bruno Silva, came forward.

It was then when Weidman landed a shocking one-two left and right combination of eye pokes that left Silva covering his eyes.

Weidman then dropped Silva with a left hook and proceeded with a few hammer fists that hardly hurt the Brazilian and yet, the referee shockingly called for a halt. And a win for Weidman. Replays overturned the TKO as the judges turned to the scorecards with Eric Colon, Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee awarding identical 30-27 scores for Weidman.

UFC fighters were quick to bare their displeasure at the result.

Soddiq Yusuff said on X, “That’s just wrong, man. With everything that comes with losing a fight, I feel for Bruno.”

Diana Belbita added her displeasure with the succinct message also on X: “Noooo. I guess eye pokes are legal now.”

Brian Kelleher minced no words with his comment “I’m sorry but there’s some favoritism taking place here”, as Derek Brunson deemed that “No contest is the only play here”. 

Weidman “improved to 16-7-0 while Silva dropped to 23-11-0.

Heading into this match, Weidman was 1-4 while the match saw Silva taste his third consecutive defeat and fifth in his last six matches.

Incredibly, the Weidman-Silva bout wasn’t the only match that ended with a controversial eye poke.

Sedriques Dumas stopped fighting to complain about an eye poke from Nursulton Ruziboev that the referee wasn’t having any of. Instead, Dumas succumbed to more shots from his foe that ended with a first round TKO.

On Sunday, April 7, UFC Fight Night, featuring Brendan Allen and Chris Curtis in the main event, will be televised live in the Philippines on the Premier Sports channel on Sky Cable and Cignal as well as the Blast TV streaming application. The preliminary cards get underway at 3 a.m. with the main card at 6 a.m.