mma / News

Joe Rogan Slams Li Jingliang Over UFC 221 Eye Gouge

February 15, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Joe Rogan spoke on the JR MMA Show about Li Jingliang’s intentional eye gouge to Jake Matthews at UFC 221. Highlights are below:

On the referee’s reaction to the gouge: “I thought it was f**king bulls**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.”

On Jingliang not being punished: “It felt like the fingers were in long enough for him to know the fingers were in there. The referee f-cked up. The UFC should do something. Someone should do something. Maybe, even in Nevada? You’ve got to look at that and go, ‘Hey man, you can’t ever do this again. And we have to fine you. You should be suspended, and if you ever do this again, you’re out.’ You can’t gouge someone’s eyes. They’ll lose their vision. We can’t have any leniency whatsoever toward intentional eye-gouging. Zero…Every time an eye-poke happens, whether it’s intentional or not, take a point away,” Rogan said. “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.”