Michael Bisping wants ‘f*cking consequences’ for eye pokes after confusing UFC Seattle main event – MMA Fighting
Filed under:Michael Bisping thinks something needs to be done about eye pokes in the UFC.This past Saturday’s UFC Seattle main event ended in controversy and confusion when an eye poke led to a premature end to the contest between Song Yadong and Henry Cejudo. The accidental foul to Cejudo occurred near the end of the third round and after a five-minute break was given to allow him to recover, the action briefly resumed only for Cejudo to admit he was unable to see heading into Round 4.Referee Jason Herzog ruled the fight to be over, and the judges went to the scorecards early, awarding the fight to Song via technical decision.Bisping was on cageside commentary, and he is stunned that Song wasn’t penalized in any way for the brutal eye poke.“No. 1, I think we should have had a point deducted,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “And I don’t say that because I want to see Song Yadong’s career jeopardized or anything like that. No, I like Song Yadong, I’m very good friends with Urijah Faber, and I have a lot of respect for the whole team.“But the eye pokes, people need to know that there’s goddamn f*cking consequences. Eye pokes are terrible. You know all about my history with the eyes. Eye pokes are bad. If you start taking points, people will stop stretching their f*cking fingers out. Then when the third round started, and there was only a minute left, Song Yadong had his fingers out and so did Henry Cejudo, and I’m like, why isn’t the ref saying anything?”
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Had Herzog taken a point from Song and the bout still gone to a technical decision, the penalty would have changed the result completely. Song won via scores of 30-27 and a pair of 29-28s. With a point deduction, those 29-28s would have become 28-28s, and the outcome would then be a majority draw.As it stands, Song officially has a win over a former two-division UFC champion on the books and Cejudo falls to 0-3 since returning from retirement in 2023.“Something needs to be done,” Bisping continued. “Stricter penalties need to be in place. There needs to be immediate consequences for people poking fighters in the eye. It’s as simple as that.”At the UFC Seattle post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White was asked if he had any interest in an immediate rematch between Song and Cejudo will be booked, to which he responded, “Not at all.”Bisping thinks a rematch makes sense, but wonders if that’s the right direction for Cejudo to go as the clock ticks down on his career.“Song Yadong was declared the victor because they went to the scorecards and he should have won that, two rounds to one, maybe,” Bisping said. “Maybe even all three rounds, he was fast, he was quick, he stopped all the takedowns, and the boxing was beautiful. It’s a shame that it ended like that.“They say they’re going to run it back. Henry said he wants to run it back, Song said he’ll do that, it was his idea. But will Henry Cejudo do that at 38 years old? I really don’t know.”Song and Cejudo have both expressed interest in running it back, agreeing to a rematch on social media.A post shared by MMA Fighting (@mmafighting)Check your inbox for a welcome email.Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.
