MMA insider defends Henry Cejudo following loss to Song Yadong: "A point should have been taken"

An MMA insider recently weighed in on the UFC Seattle main event controversy, which saw Henry Cejudo lose a technical decision to Song Yadong after he was unable to continue following an eye-poke. He noted that there should have been points deducted as the eye-poke significantly affected the outcome of the fight.

The bantamweight clash was mired in controversy as Yadong accidentally eye-poked 'Triple C', who then took the full five minutes to recover. Cejudo continued and completed the third round, before informing his corner that he was unable to continue due to vision issues in his left eye.

The official didn't deduct a point from Yadong for the infraction and then informed both fighters that the fourth round would begin, subsequently going to the scorecards.

During the latest episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Ariel Helwani defended 'Triple C' after he was criticized on social media and highlighted the need to enforce stricter rules. The renowned MMA journalist stated that eye-pokes should be penalized like in other professional sports regardless of whether they are intentional or not:

"A point should have been taken from Song [Yadong] on Saturday night... Because that was an unintentional foul, but it was a foul nonetheless...The first warning needs to be in the locker room... In American football, no one's trying to go offsides. No one is trying to get a face mask... It's just all in the flow of the game, things happen but there are repercussions...Song Yadong is not a dirty fighter but there was a foul that was committed."

Check out Ariel Helwani's comments regarding Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong below:

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Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong would have had a different outcome if a point had been deducted

It's important to note that Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong would have had a different outcome if a point was deducted after the accidental eye-poke in the third round.

During the aforementioned clip, the official scorecard for the bantamweight main event was shown, which had Yadong winning 29-28 on two scorecards. According to the scorecards, if a point had been deducted, those two judges' scorecards would have then been 28-28, making the outcome of the bout a majority draw.

Check out the official scorecards for Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong below: