Rose Namajunas Receives Medical Clearance After Eye Poke; Calls for Strict Rules

After a grueling recovery owed to an eye poke suffered at UFC 324, Rose Namajunas has given fans an update along with a suggestion to the UFC.

Rose Namajunas Receives Medical Clearance After Eye Poke; Calls for Strict Rules

Rose Namajunas chronicles her recovery from eye surgery after Natalia Silva eye poke [via MMA Fighting and Yahoo Sports]

In Short
  • Rose Namajunas has received medical clearance to resume training after recovering from a serious eye injury.
  • She advocates for stricter penalties, including purse deductions, for fighters who commit eye pokes.
  • UFC CEO Dana White supports Namajunas' call for harsher consequences to reduce the occurrence of eye pokes in fights.

Eye pokes have quietly become one of the biggest problems plaguing the UFC in recent times. Accidental or not, they have ruined main events, turned the course of important fights but more importantly, eye pokes have put several fighters on the shelf. As such, no one knows how devastating they can be better than former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

‘Thug Rose’ has had a rough go of things this year. She sustained a devastating eye injury in her last bout which came at UFC 324 against Natalia Silva. During that fight, Namajunas suffered multiple eye pokes with an especially nasty one leaving her with a canalicular laceration. She went into surgery soon after the fight.

The recovery process for her injury required Namajunas to sport a canalicular tube implant. That meant she had to avoid sneezing and blowing her nose for three months. But now, after this arduous recovery, Rose Namajunas has finally been cleared to resume training.

She broke the news in an Instagram post, which showed the removal of her implant. The former strawweight champion also called for reforms in the sport of MMA, suggesting purse deductions for fighters who commit eye pokes.

So you wanna be a fighter? Three months, and now I’m healthy, finally. Thumb and eye are all fixed up. I’m a bit out of shape, but I’m cleared to train now. I really hope eye pokes will be taken more seriously in the future. I propose instant purse deduction even for an accident. An accident that could seriously affect a fighter’s health long-term. Anyways, I’m just grateful that it was not more serious.

Rose Namajunas on Instagram

It is difficult to argue with Namajunas’ call for reform. After all, she was very emotional after her loss at UFC 324. So much so that fans had to console the former champion.

On the same card, Paddy Pimblett got eye poked by Justin Gaethje in the main event. That sequence nearly led to him getting finished by ‘The Highlight’. Even so, no points were deducted from Gaethje who ended up winning via unanimous decision.

Similarly, one of the most egregious eye poke in recent memory has to be the one suffered by UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The foul by Ciryl Gane led to the main event of UFC 321 ending in a no-contest and Aspinall requiring surgery.

The only way to crack down on such fouls is seemingly to have stricter punishments. In this regard at least, her boss, shares Rose Namajunas’ opinion.

Dana White agrees with Rose Namajunas on harsher penalties for eye pokes in the UFC

Ever since eye pokes and fouls became a major talking point, the debate on how to reduce them has remained endless. Some fans disagree with Rose Namajunas’ opinions by saying eye pokes remaining a part of the game. However, UFC CEO Dana White agree with the former women’s strawweight champion.

Rose Namajunas, Dana White
Dana White with Rose Namajunas [via MMA Mania]

Dana White believes imposing harsher penalties on such fouls. In his opinion, it is simply a matter of having stronger deterrents. White discussed this issue during his appearance on the Triggernometry Podcast.

Getting poked in the eye by anybody isn’t good. We’ve messed around with gloves, we’ve tried to do all these things. I think the big talk is if there’s harder penalties for doing it, guys would be a lot more conscious of it.

Dana White said on the Triggernometry podcast

With White’s reaction to Aspinall’s eyepoke having business consequences beyond a simple no-contest, it’s no wonder he feels this way. However, the UFC CEO was vague in describing the exact penalties. But that’s probably where he could take Namajunas’ suggestion of purse deductions.

After all, a purse deduction would definitely put the onus on fighters to play it safe. Moreover, it would feel more fair to someone like Tom Aspinall or Rose Namajunas who had to sit on the shelf for months through no fault of their own.

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