Fighters will tough out some absolutely brutal punishment inside the Octagon, but Charles Jourdain reached a point at UFC 331 where he knew he had to call it himself because he could no longer see. ‘Air’ was taking on Marlon Vera in the prelims when things took a scary turn in the third round.

The Canadian had looked sharp early on, but ‘Chito’ kept turning up the heat as the fight went on, dropping the 30-year-old multiple times in the final round. After another knockdown left Charles Jourdain on his back, he did something you almost never see: he waved the fight off himself.

It was a bizarre way for the bout to end, especially after Jourdain had already been dropped earlier. But there was a terrifying reason behind the decision. The 30-year-old later revealed that he had lost his eyesight during the third round and simply could not see well enough to keep fighting.

“Lost my eyesight in the third,” Jourdain wrote in an Instagram post after the fight. “I waved the fight cause I don’t need to receive more strikes to the head. I lost. I failed.”

Losing his vision obviously turned the situation into a whole different ball game. Charles Jourdain wasn’t among the two UFC 331 fighters who were transported to the hospital after the event, but his explanation makes the ending of his fight with Marlon Vera even more concerning.

And this isn’t the first time the 30-year-old has had an issue with his eyes. His scheduled June 2025 fight against Ricky Simon was scrapped after doctors spotted a problem during his pre-fight medicals. ‘Air’ later admitted he had no idea anything was wrong until he went through his routine eye exam.

“I didn’t even know my eyes were wrong,” he recalled during a UFC 331 press event. “I was just doing my classic eye exam before the fight … and the guy’s like, ‘No, your eye is f—– up.

“You cannot fight with that eye. You might lose it.'”

Jourdain eventually underwent surgery after doctors discovered an issue with his retina.

“So we did the surgery a couple of weeks after… and I don’t see better or worse,” he continued. “It’s just I had something in my retina.

“They put a laser in your eye, highly uncomfortable situation, and I thought I would see better. Nothing changed.”

Whether the vision issue Charles Jourdain suffered against Marlon Vera is connected to his previous eye problem remains unclear. Either way, it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on (no pun intended).

The loss also puts a pretty frustrating stop to what had been a seriously good run for ‘Air.’ He had won three straight since moving down to bantamweight in November 2024, picking up two submissions along the way. All three of his wins also came with performance bonuses.

Charles Jourdain had only been stopped by strikes once before in his professional MMA career, when Jean Silva finished him in 2024. Now, though, none of that really matters as much as what comes next.

For the moment, his biggest priority is getting his vision checked out and making sure he’s okay after a scary situation that forced him to make the call himself. And seeing how Tom Aspinall was recently forced to vacate his heavyweight title after losing his vision against Ciryl Gane, fight fans surely know how serious the situation can get.

It is also worth noting that while Charles Jourdain was dealing with a serious physical problem inside the Octagon, Marlon Vera also entered UFC 331 carrying a battle of his own.

Marlon Vera finally escapes his “Nightmare” after Charles Jourdain fight at UFC 331

On one hand, UFC 331 left Charles Jourdain with a pretty serious problem to deal with. On the other, the win also brought Marlon Vera a much-needed escape from a brutal four-fight losing streak.

‘Chito’ had gone from one of the UFC’s most dangerous contenders to struggling to find his footing after 4-straight losses, even admitting that the run had started to feel like a nightmare.

“It’s not a secret, right?” he said at the UFC 331 press conference. “It’s been a long time just falling short, and falling short, and you know, you lose two in a row; it’s part of the game.”

But four straight losses had taken a much bigger toll than one would’ve expected.

“I felt like I was just in a hole,” he continued. “It was like a nightmare. Couldn’t get out of there.”

Those four losses weren’t exactly easy to leave at home, either. Marlon Vera said his training camp had gone great, but once fight week arrived, all those doubts came rushing back.

“Then I went to Mexico City and fell short again,” he said. “Every wall around me just falling on top of me.

“The whole camp was amazing, but walking into the locker room, walking into warming up, there was a lot of demons just knocking (on) the door and kicking the door.”

At that point, the 33-year-old knew he had a choice: let those thoughts take over or block them out and give himself one more shot.

“I was just like f— you man,'” he added. “I gotta feed my family. I want to keep my job; I’m healthy, I feel strong. Told myself I’m going to give myself a chance to see what I can do with a different look.”

That mindset finally paid off. After four straight losses, Marlon Vera is back in the win column after defeating Charles Jourdain and, more importantly, has something positive to take into his next training camp instead of another defeat hanging over him.

As for what comes next, though, ‘Chito’ isn’t exactly in a rush to figure it all out.

“What’s next this year? New York, and Vegas. Man, we’ll see. I have never been in this position,” he said. “I’m going to soak in tonight, going to go back to my family, my team, and my friends, and…probably get drunk.”

And honestly, after everything he had been through, the 33-year-old seems perfectly happy to just enjoy the moment for now. After spending months feeling like he was trapped in a hole, ‘Chito’ finally has a reason to celebrate after this big win at UFC 331.