Fuck this 'accidental' bullshit.
If a fighter opens his hand looking to push off the forehead, it's not an accident. Fighters should keep their hands in a fist any time they looking to make contact with their opponents' head.
IMO, the problem is fighters do that push off move when they train because there are very rarely any negative consequences to poking your opponent in the eye. More often than not, the negative consequences are with the pokee, not the poker. That needs to change. Take a point for EVERY FUCKING EYE POKE.
Make it so fucking costly for the poker that they go to great lengths not to do that shit. If refs started deducting a point every single time, fighters would make a concerted effort not to do that push off shit in training, which would result in a great decrease in the amount of eye pokes we see in fights.
Steve1492 - Make it so fucking costly for the poker that they go to great lengths not to do that shit. If refs started deducting a point every single time, fighters would make a concerted effort not to do that push off shit in training, which would result in a great decrease in the amount of eye pokes we see in fights.
Agreed 100%.
It's a disgustingly bad habit in MMA that has to be dealt with and refs/commissions need to start giving STRONG warnings just for an open hand near the face and an automatic point deduction for an eye poke no matter how "accidental" it may look.
bump for Iaquinta poking Hallman after being warned a half-dozen times to close his damn fist.
Those should count as official warnings IMO. Poking a guy after being warned repeatedly to close your fist should be an automatic point deduction.