Justin Tafa ‘Cleared of Any Major Damage’ Following Eye Poke at UFC on ABC 5

It was an afternoon to forget for Justin Tafa.

The Australian’s heavyweight clash with Austen Lane ended just 29 seconds into Round 1 of their UFC on ABC 5 clash when Tafa was rendered unable to continue after being poked in the eye. As a result, the bout was ruled a no contest.

It was one of the more gruesome eye pokes in recent memory, and Tafa later expressed his frustration on Twitter. “I deserve my win bonus. That’s a DQ, man,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Lane apologized shortly thereafter.

Fortunately, it appears that Tafa won’t suffer any permanent damage as a result of the foul. “Bad Man” recently offered a relatively positive update on his condition via social media.

“Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but both eyes did suffer some damage,” Tafa wrote. “Right eye still in some pain, sensitive to light and blurred vision on the [left] but I thank God nothing that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to my eye. Thank you all for your concern.”

Tafa entered UFC on ABC 5 riding the momentum of back-to-back first-round knockouts of Harry Hunsucker and Parker Porter. The 29-year-old is 3-3 with one no contest since beginning his UFC tenure in 2019.

Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but both eyes did suffer some damage. Right eye still in some pain, sensitive to light and blurred vision on the but I thank God nothing that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to my eye.

Thank you all for your concern 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/NQawBFgxdp

— Justin Tafa (@justin_tafa) June 26, 2023