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Jeff Hughes was definitely looking forward to the MMA bout against Todd Duffee at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on Saturday, September 14. He was hoping to deliver an impressive performance and bounce back from the loss he suffered in the hands of Maurice Greene on his maiden UFC outing. However, that did not quite pan out as the fight made headlines for completely different reasons.
The much-awaited bout ended abruptly and with no result after Duffee went down with an alleged poke in his left eye. However, Hughes later expressed his doubts regarding the eye-poke and his dissatisfaction with the disappointing end of the fight.
MMA Junkie reported on what “Lights Out” had to say about it.
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What happened at the Hughes vs. Duffee fight
The two Heavyweight fighters were going toe-to-toe in the main card clash at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, from the very beginning of the bout. But towards the end of the first round, referee Kevin Dornan had to intervene and halt the proceedings after Duffee claimed to have sustained an eye-poke, which left him seeing double and in need of medical assistance.
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Replays could not offer a solid conclusion. Once the doctors were called, the fight was soon waved off and declared a ‘no contest’.
Hughes talks about the eye-poke incident
Looking back at the incident, Hughes was uncertain about the legitimacy of the eye-poke claim. According to him, there was no way he would not know if he poked his opponent in the eye, which is why he initially thought Duffee was buying for time.
“Usually, you can feel (when you eye-poke your opponent). Even in the heat of battle, you can still feel all that. I’m not calling the guy a liar, but I’m here to fight. I don’t know if he was looking for a way out, or he’s getting gassed or what. It was just very disappointing how it ended.”
But Hughes was still hopeful about continuing the fight, which dimmed once the doctor was inside the Octagon, he admitted.
“I thought he was trying to catch a breather. I get it, we were going hard for almost five minutes. I thought we were going to continue and we were going to try to take each other’s heads off again. But once the doctor was in there, I knew it was no good.”
When asked whether he wants a rematch, Hughes answered positively. He said he is ready to go in there and finish what they started if his opponent is willing to, but he is also looking forward to bouts with other top contenders in his division.
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