Justin Tafa lashes out after gruesome UFC Jacksonville eye poke, Austen Lane responds

UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa doesn’t feel the right call was made when his fight with Austen Lane at UFC Jacksonville was declared a no-contest.

Hours after he was ruled out of Saturday’s event, Tafa posted to Twitter a picture of his injured eye with a call for justice.

“I deserve my win bonus,” wrote Tafa. “That’s a [disqualification] man.”

Tafa vs. Lane was declared a no-contest just 29 seconds after the heavyweight contest started at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. Lane’s finger visibly went into Tafa’s left eye after an exchange, and Tafa immediately doubled over in obvious pain.

Blood could be seen flowing from Tafa’s eye following the poke.

Referee Dan Miragliotta called into the ring the cageside doctor after asking Tafa if he was OK to continue. After a brief examination, the doctor declined to clear Tafa from continuing, and the fight was called off.

The key point in the official result was the no-contest triggered by Miragliotta’s determination that Lane’s eye poke was accidental. Had the referee ruled it intentional, Lane would have been disqualified.

Here is the sequence that produced the call and the aftermath the eye poke, which drew immediate reaction from Tafa’s fellow fighters.

Shortly after Tafa’s post, Lane responded to his opponent on Twitter and apologized for the unfortunate occurrence.

“Justin Tafa… I apologize,” he wrote. “Not how I wanted it to go down. That s*** is on me and I hope your eye is alright.

“To the city I call home. The energy you gave me as I was walking out will be something I’ll remember the rest of my life. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you show.”

Lane, an NFL defensive end before his turn to pro MMA, made his octagon debut at UFC Jacksonville after earning a contract on The Contender Series. He is 12-3 as a professional.