Marc Goddard wasn’t about to let Christian Leroy Duncan get away with it. After repeatedly warning the UFC Vegas 122 headliner about those dangerously outstretched fingers and the risk of eye pokes, the veteran referee finally took a point off him, and now he’s explaining exactly why he made the call.

“I’d like to offer some clarity on this, as I believe it’s a teachable moment & gives insight into what we are doing as officials to overcome certain obstacles,” Goddard wrote on X.

‘CLD’ got the warning, got another warning, and still ended up paying the price. During his middleweight showdown with Brendan Allen, Christian Leroy Duncan was repeatedly told to keep his fingers away from his opponent’s eyes.

But when another eye poke landed in the second round, Marc Goddard had seen enough and took a point off Duncan. The deduction raised eyebrows, as referees rarely take a point away for a first foul in MMA. But Goddard’s explanation made one thing clear: those earlier warnings weren’t just for show.

‘All In’ was given time to recover before the action resumed.

“As referees we go over the rules one to one with fighters in the back before the fight begins,” Goddard continued. “Here we specifically cover potential eye pokes. If you watch, you will hear me warn CLD in round one for outstretched fingers toward the face.

“I then again, before the start of the next round, ask him to be careful & mindful of the hands. It is then when the eye poke occurs do I take definitive action.”

He also made sure to separate the penalty from any suggestion that ‘CLD’ had deliberately tried to injure Brendan Allen. Goddard praised the British fighter’s ability and acknowledged how difficult it can be for athletes to change habits developed over years of training.

“CLD is a credit to the sport of MMA & an exceptional athlete,” Goddard added. “There’s so much more, mechanically to addressing eye pokes in MMA, both preventatively (before the action) and correctively (after the action); it is very hard to expect an athlete to change 20 years of training & habits with a few minutes of conversation pre-fight.

“Just know that both myself and my colleagues know it is a firm priority to address & fix this.”

The 52-year-old’s message was pretty straightforward: he wanted to stop Duncan’s fingers from becoming a bigger problem before someone got seriously hurt.

As it turned out, the point deduction didn’t change a thing on the scorecards. Brendan Allen went on to submit Duncan with a rear-naked choke in the fifth round, wrapping up the UFC Vegas 122 main event before the judges even got a say. Still, Marc Goddard’s explanation shed light on why he decided that another warning simply wasn’t enough.

Eye pokes continue to plague the UFC as more fighters suffer injuries

Eye pokes have been a headache for MMA for ages, and Marc Goddard’s call comes at a time when the issue is back in the spotlight. From disrupted vision to fighters struggling to get back into their rhythm, these fouls can have a serious impact on how a fight plays out.

Wang Cong knows that feeling all too well. After her UFC 332 women’s flyweight title clash with Natalia Silva, ‘The Joker’ revealed that an eye poke affected her vision and threw off her rhythm. Silva went on to win by unanimous decision, and although Wang picked up the pace in the fifth round, she couldn’t turn things around.

Interestingly, Natalia Silva found herself in the middle of a similar controversy against former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas at UFC 324. Namajunas suffered a nasty canalicular laceration, tearing part of the system responsible for draining tears from the eye, and needed emergency surgery several days later.

Then came the ugly incident at UFC 321. Tom Aspinall suffered a double eye poke from Ciryl Gane during their heavyweight title fight, leaving him unable to continue. The bout ended without a decisive finish, sidelining Aspinall for nearly a year before he finally vacated his title last month.

With eye pokes continuing to make headlines, the problem is getting harder for the UFC to ignore. These aren’t just minor fouls that leave fighters rubbing their eyes for a few seconds. They can mess with a fighter’s vision, derail an entire fight and, in the worst cases, lead to surgery and months on the sidelines.

Of course, eliminating eye pokes completely is easier said than done. But with high-profile fighters suffering serious eye injuries, the pressure is on the UFC to find better ways to protect its athletes. As for Marc Goddard, he has made his stance clear: prevention matters, but when warnings fail, officials need to step in.