“That sh*t was intentional” - Outrage erupts as fans accuse Austen Lane of deliberate eye poke in fight against Justin Tafa

Fans are outraged after Austen Lane accidentally eye-poked Justin Tafa, leading to an anti-climatic no-contest ending.

UFC Jacksonville featured several fighters with a connection to the city. One of those fighters was Lane, who once played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. The 35-year-old was matched up against the hard-hitting Tafa, which was supposed to be an entertaining slugfest.

Unfortunately, the heavyweight fight didn’t live up to the expectations. After less than 30 seconds of action, Lane accidentally landed a severe eye poke, leaving Tafa with a gruesome injury. Social media erupted with fans disappointed, including some fans insulting the former NFL player:

“eye poke should be instant disqualification! ur professional learn to not stick out ur finger”

“They gotta do something about the eye pokes. Ruins too many fights and happens in seemingly every other fight. Gotta fix it. Better gloves or something, but it’s a real problem”

“Bro should be banned”

“That sh*t was intentional”

“Lanes corners needed to ST*U let’s jab their eyes and see if they go forward… maybe Laie needs to learn how to keep his face balled up and not go at it with fingers white out”

"He poked his brain"

"It was a pretty bad eye poke!"

"That eye poke was dirty and looked kind of intentional #UFCJacksonville"

Referee Dan Miragliotta tried to salvage the fight by calming down Justin Tafa and telling him to utilize the five minutes of timeout offered. After several minutes of being overlooked by a cageside doctor, ‘Bad Man’ still couldn’t see, which ended the fight with a no-contest.

While the decision was announced, the tension almost escalated as Austen Lane began arguing with Tafa’s team on camera.

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Justin Tafa and Austen Lane leave UFC Jacksonville in disappointment due to no contest

Nobody wins when an unfortunate ending occurs, like Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane at UFC Jacksonville. On one side of the matchup, Tafa had his momentum halted after securing back-to-back first-round knockouts.

Meanwhile, Lane was making his UFC debut in front of a crowd that gave him a massive ovation during the introductions. It’s unclear what’s next for Tafa and Lane. There’s a chance the UFC decides to rebook the bout, but ‘Bad Man’ will need to make the long trip back from Australia.