UFC 322 is this weekend, but the ripples of UFC 321 are still very much alive. The eye poke that caused a no-contest ruling in the main event has gained particular notoriety. Even though the no-contest rule exists, officials have yet to put a proper mechanism in place to ensure fighter safety, leaving a loophole that has already affected athletes like Henry Cejudo and Belal Muhammad. Then, most recently, Tom Aspinall had to stop his bout at Etihad Arena on October 25.

Many thought the world would move on, like they did with previous incidents, but this time, the controversy sparked action. Following the events, Henry Cejudo held the commission accountable, stating, “It’s not just about the rules, it’s about enforcing them properly.” Now, it seems the commission is finally taking the matter seriously, as veteran referee Herb Dean reveals the latest outcomes from the “zoom meeting” on eye pokes.

Herb Dean highlights the commission’s plan for “enforcing” the rule

A week after the commission meeting, veteran referee Herb Dean appeared on the Believe You Me podcast alongside Michael Bisping and Paul Felder. While discussing the UFC 322 card, ‘The Count’ turned the conversation toward UFC 321 and the infamous “eye poke,” asking Herb about his involvement with the commission. Herb Dean confirmed, “so that did take place.” He clarified that several more meetings are expected because “a lot of ideas were floated,” and revealed that the commission has agreed on a way to “move forward” to fix the rule.

Dean emphasized the sensitivity of the issue, noting that MMA worldwide involves short gloves, sneaky fingers, punching, and grappling all mixed together. “But I think what we’re going to do so far — what we’re talking about is: we’ve made rules. We made a rule where it’s a foul to extend the fingers toward the eyes. Right. So that’s the rule we’ve already had in place. That rule has been there, but we haven’t been enforcing it. So we’re going to move forward on that.”

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Typically, during a fight, the referee only deducts points after a fighter is hurt by a foul. “But this right here is a dangerous foul…We should start taking points from them for doing that action before it actually happens and hurts somebody,” explained Herb Dean.

Under current rules, eye pokes are mostly classified as “unintentional.” Proving intent remains difficult. When a foul is deemed intentional, the fighter may be docked points or disqualified. Yet, even when eye pokes cause discomfort, they rarely lead to significant penalties. Now, as Herb Dean explained, the commission is taking a stricter approach to enforcing these rules.

No more “warning” as commission enforces stricter rules for fighters

Oblique kicks and eye pokes have long been some of the most infamous fouls in MMA, often described as “career‑ending” moves. Just ask Quinton Jackson about the damage Jon Jones caused with oblique kicks, or Daniel Cormier about the repeated eye pokes he endured. Despite their severity, these issues were seldom addressed by the commission. Even when UFC CEO Dana White criticized eye pokes, saying, “we’ve got to stop that stuff,” he didn’t take strong action, often pointing to the natural advantage of fighters with longer reach.

Those days, however, appear to be coming to an end. In a conversation with Michael Bisping, veteran referee Herb Dean emphasized that referees will no longer rely solely on warnings for fighters committing fouls. He said, “That’s what’s been discussed, and the executive directors seem like they’re with it also. They’re like, ‘Hey, no, we’re going to need some- you know, we hear guys -warning, warning, stopping, timeout, hard warning… But we’re going to do – I think the other thing that’s going to happen is we’re going to get a little bit more specific as to what that foul is… we are going to start enforcing the rules we already have more strictly.”

Now, with UFC veteran referees sharing insider updates from the latest commission meeting on foul moves, it will be intriguing to see if these changes are implemented without sparking criticism. Stay tuned.