UFC veteran Jim Miller has spoken out strongly following the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, where an accidental eye poke by Ciryl Gane on Tom Aspinall resulted in a no contest in the first round. While some fans criticized Aspinall for not continuing, Miller shifted his focus to the foul and the sport’s repeated tolerance of such actions.
“It’s not a f*ing accident,” says Miller
Miller expressed his frustration over what he sees as a systemic failure to hold fighters accountable in his Instagram post.
“I am very agitated, and I think you know exactly where this is going,” Miller started. “I’m going to share two screenshots of the unified MMA rules at the end of this, and you tell me what the f*** is going on. … If only, if only stupid, dumb, professional MMA fighters could control our fingers, right?”
Fighters should face consequences
Miller mentioned that he has personally experienced permanent vision damage from such incidents.
“I’ve had my vision permanently affected by eye pokes. … The only way we’re going to stop this issue is if the fighters committing the foul actually get punished for it. That’s the only way this is going to change. It’s not a glove issue; it’s a cultural issue among the fighters.”
Wrong person gets blamed
The New Jersey native criticized how the reaction to Aspinall has often shifted blame to the victim rather than the perpetrator.
“The person who was poked in the eye is always the bad guy, always viewed negatively for not continuing. … It’s never the foul-causing fighter who faces scrutiny. This frustrates me. Referees have had the power to address this for years but have chosen not to.”
Experience proves it’s avoidable
As the longest-serving fighter in UFC history, Miller emphasized that experience shows eye pokes can be prevented.
“I’ve shared the list of the longest-tenured fighters in the octagon, and none of them have ever poked someone in the eye! If we’ve spent the most time in the octagon, shouldn’t we have some eye pokes to account for? They aren’t just part of the sport; it’s not a f*ing accident! It’s fully controllable. Penalize the culprits.”
A simple fix that never happens
Miller’s comments have reignited calls for stricter enforcement of penalties for eye pokes. Many fans and analysts believe that immediate point deductions could avoid future controversies.
If a fighter grabs the cage, delivers a low blow, or pokes an opponent in the eye, a point should be deducted right away.
Simple enforcement could lead to significant improvements, yet the sport continues to overlook these measures.
It shouldn’t take another fighter suffering vision loss for the system to take action.
