Former champ champ Daniel Cormier is by all accounts one of the great fighters in MMA history, and a terrific human being. And he has a history of inadvertent eye-poking.
The trilogy fight vs. Stipe Miocic was impacted by an eye poke Cormier received from Miocic at the end of Round 3. Immediately afterward, DC, or as the cruel meme put it D can’t C, told Joe Rogan what had happened.
“I couldn’t even f***ing [see]. I couldn’t see the rest of the fight. I can’t see anything out of my left eye … it’s black,” said Cormier. “It doesn’t matter though, whatever, it is what it is.”
He’s factually correct.
In their first fight, Cormier poked Miocic badly in the eye. In their second fight, Cormier poked Stipe so badly in the eye Miocic required surgery, was out for a year, and there were rumors he would never fight again. Early in their third fight on Saturday night, Cormier poked Miocic badly in the eye. And two rounds later, he got poked back.
https://twitter.com/mmamania/status/1294898026411155459
All the pokes, in both directions, were inadvertent. And while the eye for an eye prescription in Leviticus is no longer a cutting edge theory in the administration of justice, it’s not right to argue that Daniel Cormier was robbed of a potential victory when referee Marc Goddard was out of position to see it and told Cormier to fight on.
As an aside, Happy Birthday Marc.
Goddard saw the poke on a replay, and apologized both directly to Cormier in person, and publicly.
I practice what I preach and as a man I stand tall and head on,” tweeted Goddard. “If you accept plaudits then you must with mistakes too, that’s proof that you are listening, honest, and implore improvement. Rough with the smooth, acceptance and ownership. Immediately after the fight when seeing the replay I apologized to Daniel and his team and I do so publicly and unreservedly for missing what I shouldn’t have – but I cannot call what I do not see. I don’t have replays and multiple angles, it’s a one-shot take in real-time. I cannot convey just how much I have both lived and loved this sport for the past 20 years. I truly appreciate all who understand.
Miocic too, like Cormier by all accounts a terrific human being, likewise missed the eye poke when it happened, and apologized at the post-fight press conference.
I didn’t realize I poked him in the eye until I saw it in the replay. I was like ‘Oh, I totally poked him in the eye,’” said Miocic. “I felt bad. I wasn’t trying to be intentional. I told him many times I’m sorry during the fight. But what can you do? … He did it to me multiple times, you know? Whatever, it wasn’t on purpose.
At the post-fight press con, UFC president Dana White added a further wrinkle.
I think the eye was hurt before the poke and the poke definitely didn’t help,” said White. “But you can’t look at it and say ‘Oh the poke’. Stipe got poked hard too. They both got poked.
The bottom line is that Stipe Miocic is the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, and a single extended finger does not in any way what so ever impact that sterling fact.
