The controversial eye stop between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong has inflamed a larger debate in the UFC community about handling errors in the cage.
Cejudo was stripped of the opportunity to break a double loss streak when Yadong extended his fingers in both eyes during a fight exchange. The former double camp was refused a point deduction and lasted five minutes before he fights to the fourth round.
The fight was sent to the score cards after Cejudo had admitted that he could not see it. Yadong won on points, but it led to a discussion about whether the rules were more a suggestion than something that was enforced.
Fortunately for fans, Jim Miller Jim Miller of 45 fighting weighed on the debate.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
'It's the culture' … Jim Miller calls for wage reductions for flagrant pollution in UFC fights
MMA veteran Jim Miller went to X on 24 February and gave his honest opinion about how to deal with mistakes in the middle of the fight. Some can consider his solution as extreme.
“They are not the gloves, it's the culture,” wrote Miller. “The shameless, win at the expense of everything that mentality among fighters and the 'Oogpokes are an accident and not a dirty mentality that most people seem to have.
“. . . Trust the error immediately during the break in action after confirming a strike or post was thrown with vast fingers. I not only believe a point deduction, but also a wallet deduction would have a quick effect on how much poring we see. “
As a veteran of 45 UFC fights, Miller believes that his experience gives some credibility to his claims.
“I came to these conclusions after I was included in those gloves 45 times, a total of more than 7 hours in the Octagon, which landed important strikes over 1200 (which were not thrown with extensive fingers) …” … “
They are not the gloves, it is the culture. The shameless, at the expense of everything that mentality among fighters and the “Oogpokes are an accident and not a mistake” mentality that most people seem to have. The good news is that we can change the culture. Strim the error immediately during the break …
– Jim Miller (@Jimmiller_155) February 24, 2025
View tweet
Michael Bisping calls for stricter penalties in the UFC
Sharing a sentiment similar to Miller's is former middleweight champion Michael Bisping. 'De Graaf' fought notoriously with one eye for a large part of his career and won a championship. Bisping also weighed on the Cejudo-Yadong fiasco by calling for stricter penalties.
“Number one, I think we should have seen a point deduction,” Bisping remarked on his YouTube channel. “. . . People need to know that there are consequences, eye pricks are terrible, you know everything about my history with the eyes, eye pricks are bad. “
A point deduction against Yadong would have scored the fight a majority speech. This may have justified a rematch, but UFC CEO Dana White is against seeing Cejudo-Yadong again. Referees must stop giving athletes multiple 'definitive warnings' if reform is necessary and start taking points after the first last warning.
Comments