Michael Bisping: Song Yadong should have had point deducted for eye poke on Henry Cejudo at UFC Fight Night 252

Michael Bisping wants to see stricter penalties for eye pokes during fights.

Song Yadong (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) picked up a technical decision win over Henry Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 252 main event at Climate Pledge Arena.

The fight went to the judges’ scorecards at the end of Round 3 after Song accidentally poked Cejudo in the eye midway through the round and rendered him unable to continue. Cejudo took all five minutes to recover and opted to finish the round. In between the third and fourth rounds, Cejudo told his corner and doctor he was unable to see, and the fight was waved off.

Bisping knows first hand how consequential eye injuries can be. The former UFC middleweight champion suffered a detached retina during his fighting career, which left him unable to see out of his right eye.

He thinks Song should have been penalized after poking Cejudo in the eye.

“No. 1, I think we should have had a point deducted,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “I have a lot of respect for (Song’s) whole team, but the eye pokes, people need to know that there’s goddamn f*cking consequences. Eye pokes are terrible. You know all about my history with the eyes. Eye pokes are bad, right? If you start taking points, people will stop stretching their f*cking fingers out.

“Then when the third round (re)started, and there was only a minute left, Song Yadong had his fingers out, and so did Henry Cejudo, and I’m like, ‘Why isn’t the ref saying anything?’ Something needs to be done. Stricter penalties need to be in place. There needs to be immediate consequences for people poking fighters in the eye. It’s as simple as that.”

Cejudo showed off the damage to his eye after the fight, and called for a rematch against Song.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.