The UFC has been going through a scourge of eye pokes. So serious was the problem that the UFC introduced new, redesigned gloves earlier this year, named the 3EIGHT and 5EIGHT (which only differ in color) to try and curb this. While the new gloves promised curved finger holes to make it harder for fighters to fully extend their fingers, the likes of Joe Rogan and Sean Strickland do not think it has been much of an improvement over the previous model. Regardless, in this article, we take a look at one of the most serious cases of eye-pokes in recent UFC history, which involves the Congolese fighter Ange Loosa.

What happened between Ange Loosa and Bryan Battle

Unranked UFC welterweight Ange Loosa is a relative newcomer to the Dana White-led promotion, having made his promotional debut two years ago. He came into the promotion with six first-round finishes in six fights and after compiling a 2-1 record, he faced Bryan Battle on a Fight Night card in March this year.

The first round saw Battle get the better of ‘The Last Ninja’, who seemed to be struggling in every aspect against ‘The Butcher’. However, the bout lasted only until the second round, as it was declared a no-contest after Loosa’s left eye was poked by Battle’s thumb in the penultimate round, which hurt him seriously. The Congolese told the referee he couldn’t see, which caused the referee to stop the fight.

After the fight ended, Battle accused the Kinshasa native of quitting and called him a “pu**y.” This incensed Loosa, who felt insulted and got into a verbal spat with his opponent, even threatening that he would “f***ing kill” Battle. Thankfully officials intervened and separated the duo before things could escalate.

Has the UFC star recovered from the injury?

After the bout, Ange Loosa faced criticism not only from his opponent but also from the fans, who called him out on social media for ‘quitting.’ However, the Congolese remained unperturbed.

In the post-fight interview, Loosa reiterated that he had indeed been seriously hurt and couldn’t see. He declared that he would never do something as dishonorable as faking an injury to get out of a fight he was losing, and would have continued if he could have.

The Congolese also felt that all of the noise from the fans was irrelevant since none of them knew what he was going through at that moment. In a subsequent interview after the fight, Loosa revealed that he would be seeing two ophthalmologists shortly, claiming his eyes were still giving him trouble a day after the bout.

“[The UFC] wants to send me to an ophthalmologist. I have to see another one back in Florida. We will check and see what’s going on, but I feel like there’s something inside [my eye]. It’s itchy and hurting a little bit. We’ll check the eye and see how it goes from there,” he said.

Since then, it seems the 30-year-old has recovered fully as he is booked to fight Gabriel Bonfim on a Fight Night card on July 17.