Referee somehow misses a UFC fighter nearly removing another's eyeball ·

06 Jan 2025, 00:00

Li Jingliang nearly removed Jake Matthews' eyeball at UFC 221 this weekend and the referee never even bothered to bat an eye.

Unfortunately, you're about to get that bad joke.

One of the worst eye gouges I’ve ever seen - and the ref did absolutely nothing about it. #UFC221 pic.twitter.com/YFH7PhpjNH

— Justin Hartling (@justinhartling) February 11, 2018

For the love of everything holy, that man attempted to remove an eye from another human's eyeball socket and we nearly had ourselves a televised murder. It was basically The Walking Dead, but instead of a zombie, Jingliang was trying to get to the brain of another human.

The referee in the match never noticed the eye gouge, so nothing was done about it during the event.

Matthews, who magically overcame his eyeball being torn at to defeat Jingliang, claimed he didn't even notice. Here's what he said in the aftermath while being interviewed.

"In the heat of the fight, you don't realize that stuff. There was a couple of fingers in the glove, but in the heat of the fight, you'll do anything to win. I can't fault that. No hard feelings at all."

That is a level of forgiveness I shall never understand. Also, how in the heck did he not notice?

Matthews (12-3) has now racked up consecutive wins for the first time since 2016. Obviously, an important win so he can continue on with his MMA career with both eyeballs attached to his face.

Meanwhile, the result sees Jingliang's impressive win-streak end at four. He, too, will continue to be an MMA fighter, but hopefully never again attempt to do what he did at UFC 221.

Referee somehow misses a UFC fighter nearly removing another's eyeball

Li Jingliang nearly removed Jake Matthews' eyeball at UFC 221 this weekend and the referee never even bothered to bat an eye. Unfortunately, you're about to get that bad joke. One of the worst eye gouges Ive ever seen - and the ref did absolutely nothing about it. #UFC221 pic.twitter.com/YFH7PhpjNH

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