UFC: Kiwi heavyweight Justin Tafa suffers bad eye poke in short-lived bout against Austen Lane

Kiwi UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa consults with a doctor after sustaining a nasty eye poke in his bout against Austen Lane. Photo / Getty Images

Of all the ways for a bout to end, this was one of the worst.

After getting through fight camp, flying from his base in Brisbane to Jacksonville, Florida, and making weight, Kiwi UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa found himself on a stool less than 30 seconds into his fight against Austen Lane, telling a doctor he couldn’t see out of his right eye.

Tafa sustained a nasty eye poke as UFC newcomer Lane tried to push off following an exchange of punches. Lane, a former NFL player, reached with an outstretched hand to try and create some distance, but one of his fingers found Tafa’s eye and had him immediately doubled over in pain.

In the UFC, a fighter who is poked in the eye is given five minutes to recover and see if their vision clears up. From the outset of that recovery period, Tafa said he could not see from the affected eye, struggling to open it as blood began to drip from the area.

Things only got worse for him as the doctor came into the octagon to observe him, with his lower eyelid beginning to swell. Referee Dan Miragliotta had no choice but to wave the fight off with just under a minute remaining in Tafa’s recovery period.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - JUNE 24: Justin Tafa of New Zealand reacts to to accidental eye poke form Austen Lane in their heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena on June 24, 2023 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

The fight was ruled a no contest, leaving everyone involved feeling deflated.

The extent of the injury is yet to be determined, but Tafa will be hopeful he can turn things around in time for the UFC’s return Down Under in September, with a pay-per-view card being hosted in Sydney.

The Auckland-born fighter had taken that card into account when looking to back up his first-round knockout win over Parker Porter in Perth in February, taking the fight in Jacksonville as it allowed him enough recovery time should the fight have turned into a brawl.

“I told the UFC I wanted to fight in June, knowing Sydney was in September,” Tafa told the Herald. “I didn’t want to fight on International Fight Week (July 9) because it was probably too close.

“My fight style is not one that is good on the body.”

The bout was just his second since December 2021, missing all of 2022 as he addressed and recovered from some injury concerns.