"That escalated quickly" - MMA world reacts as "garbage" eye poke ruins UFC Vegas 88 co-main event, fighter gets accused of "cop out"

Fans recently expressed their thoughts on the UFC Vegas 88 co-main event being ruled out as a no-contest.

Bryan Battle and Ange Loosa squared off against each other in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 88. The event took place on March 16 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Battle entered the bout with a two-fight winning streak, previously defeating Gabriel Green via TKO and A.J. Fletcher via submission. Loosa, a relative UFC rookie, was also coming off a two-fight winning streak against Rhys Mckee and A.J. Fletcher.

Loosa launched an aggressive attack to start the fight. However, Battle was the first to land hard, stunning his opponent with a well-timed countermove. The two separated after a brief pause in action, with only half the round remaining. Battle pressed forward, teep-kicking and delivering straight shots to his opponent. By the end of the first round, Battle was fighting with great fluidity and coordinating his offensive plays and combinations.

Sadly, everything went horribly wrong for Battle early in the second after a promising start in the first round. He kept firing from a distance before denying a takedown, which caught Loosa's eye in the process. A minute later, the doctor and referee intervened to call off the fight, as Loosa couldn't see properly.

Check out the clip below:

Fans were left disappointed and soon rushed to the comments section to share their reactions. Take a look at some of their reactions below:

''Another embarrassing week of MMA. Loosa should never set foot in the octagon again.

''Well alright. That escalated quickly.''

''Send Loosa back to the regionals. Embarrassing showing all around.''

''Give Battle 50k for fighting a cop out. @ufc''

''Absolute garbage. Loosa got bailed out big time.''

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshot of fan reactions to UFC's post on X