Now, is it mere coincidence or just bad timing? The MMA world was still reeling from the controversy following Tom Aspinall’s eye poke. And out of the blue, another incident surfaced. Intriguingly, it involved the heavyweight champion’s teammate! The only difference – while Aspinall was on the receiving end of Ciryl Gane’s open palm at UFC 321, Ante Delija became the perpetrator at UFC Vegas 110.

Thankfully, unlike Aspinall vs. Gane, the main card fight between Ante Delija and Waldo Cortes-Acosta continued and ended with the Dominican clinching a shocking knockout victory over the Croatian. Still, two consecutive UFC events have now been marred by similar issues. Additionally, the latest eye-poke incident brought to light a glaring challenge: the fight gloves. Several experts have already called for a review. What may surprise some is that even the headliner winner, Steve Garcia, believes the organization should re-examine the gloves currently in use.

Another eye poke? Steve Garcia says it’s time to act

The rising featherweight star delivered a stunning performance, pummeling Ugandan David Onama into a first-round TKO. At the post-fight press conference, a reporter asked if the mid-round delay in Acosta vs. Delija, caused by the eye poke, disrupted his own preparation. The New Mexico native admitted that it did. The incident did cause some confusion.

“We were warming up in the back, and we obviously got to time it, right? So like we’re in the back, and obviously I thought the fight was done. And then all of a sudden I see someone, you know, like grab their eye, and I’m like, “Does it stop?” Steve Garcia replied.

The whole situation seemed to perplex him. The eye pokes and brief stoppages disrupt the natural flow of the bout, he shared. It’s something that typically warrants a foul and time-out. So Garcia concluded, “I think the only way that you can really change any of that is you have to change the gloves. So, that’s, that’s on the UFC or whoever, the commission, whoever’s in charge of all that.”

Without a doubt, the Acosta-Delija bout will go down as one of the craziest in recent UFC history. But the issues of eye pokes remain, and Steve Garcia speaking out about it just shows what a pressing problem they can be, especially when they derail marqueé fights. But Garcia’s isn’t the only voice echoing this concern.

Garcia speaks out, and he’s not the only one

Just two months earlier, the Croatian had made headlines with a spectacular debut at Fight Night: Imavov vs. Borralho. He knocked out Marcin Tybura in the first round. So, when Waldo Cortes-Acosta went down early, it looked as though Delija might repeat that success. That was until the accidental eye poke changed everything.

The confusion deepened when the referee paused the fight for review. It momentarily appeared the fight had been called off. Delija’s corner even began celebrating, it seems. But the picture soon became clear, and the fight resumed. Despite his left eye bothering him, Acosta rallied back and knocked out Delija with a straight right.

Recently, while speaking with Ariel Helwani, veteran fighter Matt Brown echoed the same concern about the gloves. He emphasized that eye pokes should draw immediate penalties but added that the UFC must also address the root cause. “They should also fix the damn gloves. Like, this has happened so many times; it’s like, at what point do you just stop and be like, ‘Okay, we need to do something about this,’ and penalizing is an obvious thing, but I think fixing the gloves is just as obvious.”

Some, however, counter. Fighters should simply keep their hands closed! Either way, fans should stay tuned. More intriguing developments may unfold around one of the UFC’s most debated topics in recent weeks.

Do you agree with Steve Garcia and Matt Brown’s views on the gloves?