Justin Tafa Speaks Out After Brutal UFC Jacksonville Eye Poke

Garrett Kerman

Sports Editor

June 24 2023 3 min read

UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa was left fuming after his fight against Austen Lane at UFC Jacksonville ended in a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke. Tafa and Lane were just starting to heat up before the incident occurred. The referee called a stop to the fight, and it was ruled a no-contest. Tafa was left with a gruesome eye injury, and he took to social media to express his frustration.

I deserve my Win bonus that’s a DQ man pic.twitter.com/CMNdW0ZUtL

— Justin Tafa (@justin_tafa) June 24, 2023

Justin Tafa’s Reaction

Tafa posted a graphic photo of his eye on Instagram, showing the extent of the damage. He also posted a video of the incident, which clearly shows the accidental eye poke. In the caption, Tafa lashed out at Lane, calling him a “coward” and accusing him of faking the injury. Tafa also criticized the referee for stopping the fight as a No Contest, saying that he was “robbed” of his win bonus and that Lane should have been disqualified.

Austen Lane responds to Tafa’s reaction

Former NFL player Austen Lane, who was making his long-awaited UFC debut against Tafa, responded to the post, saying that he was looking forward to fighting Tafa. Lane then apologized to Tafa for accidental eye poke.

“Justin Tafa… I apologize,” he wrote. “Not how I wanted it to go down. That s*** is on me and I hope your eye is alright.

“To the city I call home. The energy you gave me as I was walking out will be something I’ll remember the rest of my life. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you show.”

The incident at UFC Jacksonville has left Justin Tafa with a gruesome eye injury and a sense of frustration. Tafa and Lane were in the thick of things and it looked like the fight was going to be an absolute barnburner before the accidental eye poke.

After an eye poke like that, Tafa may need to take some extended time off but this fight is certainly one that I think both fighters will be looking to get back sooner rather than later. With UFC 293 coming to Sydney Australia in September that would be the perfect date for these two to finally settle the score. It remains to be seen the extent of Tafa’s eye injury and what the UFC will want to do next with these two heavy-hitting heavyweights.