It was an afternoon to forget for Justin
Tafa.
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The Australian’s heavyweight clash with Austen Lane
ended just 29 seconds into Round 1 of their
UFC on ABC 5 clash when Tafa was rendered unable to continue
after being poked in the eye. As a result, the bout was ruled a no
contest.
It was one of the more gruesome eye pokes in recent memory, and
Tafa later expressed his frustration on Twitter. “I deserve my win
bonus. That’s a DQ, man,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Lane apologized
shortly thereafter.
Fortunately, it appears that Tafa won’t suffer any permanent damage
as a result of the foul. “Bad Man” recently offered a relatively
positive update on his condition via social media.
“Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but both eyes did suffer
some damage,” Tafa wrote. “Right eye still in some pain, sensitive
to light and blurred vision on the [left] but I thank God nothing
that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to my eye.
Thank you all for your concern.”
Tafa entered UFC on ABC 5 riding the momentum of back-to-back
first-round knockouts of Harry
Hunsucker and Parker
Porter. The 29-year-old is 3-3 with one no contest since
beginning his UFC tenure in 2019.
Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but
both eyes did suffer some damage. Right eye still in some pain,
sensitive to light and blurred vision on the but I thank God
nothing that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to
my eye.Thank you all for your concern 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/NQawBFgxdp
— Justin Tafa (@justin_tafa)
June 26, 2023