Joe Rogan has expressed his frustration at the lack of punishment Li Jingliang received following his intentional eye-gouge against Jake Matthews in their fight at UFC 221 last weekend.
During their welterweight bout on the main card of UFC 221, Jingliang stuck his fingers into the eyes of Matthews to escape from a guillotine choke. The Leech did manage to escape the choke, but referee Mark Simpson decided no further action was to be taken towards Jingliang.
Sitting down with Brendan Schaub on the most recent edition of the JRE MMA Show, Rogan gave his thoughts on the eye-gouge (transcription via MMAJunkie):
“I thought it was f—king bullsh-t. You can’t let a guy get away with that, or he’s going to do it again. … You don’t do it that way. You tap. It’s straight up cheating; it’s not just shady. It’s cheating.
“They should tell him, ‘If this ever happens again, if you ever think you’re going to do this again, we’re going to kick you out of the league.’ You can’t do that. You can’t gouge someone’s eye when they’re choking you.”
Due to the shape of the gloves used today in the UFC, eye-pokes are a common theme in fights. In this instance, it was evident Jingliang intentionally poked both eyes of Matthews, which is why many felt Jingliang should have been punished for his actions.
“Every time an eye-poke happens, whether it’s intentional or not, take a point away. I think it’s a good move. Eye-gouges like that, I think is grounds for disqualification. You can’t allow any room for that. Guys are going to get blind. It could happen. Most guys are completely ethical and would never think of doing this.”
About the author
