UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa suffered a horror eye injury during a fight with Austen Lane on Saturday.
The bout was abandoned after just 29 seconds as a result of the incident.
Early in the opening round, Tafa launched a left hook, but Lane responded by pushing his hand into the Aussie's face.
His fingers poked BOTH of Tafa's eyes, causing them to swell and bleed instantly.
Referee Dan Miragliotta subsequently had to call the fight off altogether following a brief time-out.
The sickening poke left Tafa fearing that his eye had been brutally ripped out.
READ MORE IN UFC
UFC stars Barber and Ribas unrecognisable after ‘best fight of all-time’
UFC star left unrecognisable after having face ‘rearranged’ in brutal beatdown
After the fight, the 29-year-old told The Herald Sun: "I thought my eyeball had been ripped out, honestly.
"That's why I turned around and stepped away.
"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.
Most read in MMA
UFC star left unrecognisable after having face 'rearranged' in brutal beatdown
I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar… now I'm a UFC and WWE legend
UFC icon McGregor breaks silence after missing USADA testing pool deadline
MMA fans stunned as fighter suffers insane 'movie' KO and FACEPLANTS the ring
"I just hope it's not really bad damage. Everything's blurry now. I can see your face, but everything's just blurry."
The fight was ruled as a no contest, but Tafa took to Twitter after the event to claim that he deserved the win.
He tweeted: "I should get my WIN bonus. That's a DQ."
Former NFL star Lane also took to Twitter to apologise for the eye poke.
He wrote: "Not how I wanted it to go down.
"That s*** is on me and I hope your eye is alright."
Source: Read Full Article
