Justin Gaethje eye pokes on Paddy Pimblett leave fans fuming as brutal footage emerges: ‘Robbed’

Justin Gaethje received just one warning for two brutal looking eye pokes during his UFC 324 victory over Paddy Pimblett.

Gaethje and Pimblett fought in an absolute epic to kick off the UFC’s yearly slate at UFC 324 in Las Vegas, with the former coming out on top on the scorecards in a real slug fest.

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The pair were left with serious damage, particularly Pimblett who had swelling around both eyes by the end of the war of attrition.

Throughout the contest from the very opening minute, it was action-packed with Pimblett dropped in a rapid opener.

But upon returning to his feet and getting back momentum, it was here where Gaethje was first warned of an eye poke.

Referee Marc Goddard halted action and warned ‘The Highlight’ he would be deducted a point if it happened again, with it going into Pimblett’s left eye.

Then in the second stanza, Gaethje came close to stopping Pimblett inflicting some big damage on Pimblett.

It was what initially appeared to be a crunching jab followed by a shuddering right hand which dropped the Liverpudlian to the canvas.

He was saved by the horn signalling the conclusion of the round.

But replays then showed that official Goddard had completely missed a bad looking eye poke on Pimblett.

As the American threw the jab, his thumb had brutally entered Pimblett’s right eye, which immediately closed as he grimaced in pain.

No action was taken on the eye poke, and the action continued with ‘The Baddy’ showing excellent powers of recovery.

Fans fuming with referee after missed Gaethje eye poke

The MMA community came out in their thousands to slam the eye pokes, with the latter ultimately missed in a pivotal part of proceedings.

One wrote: “That is shocking wow, how can the referee miss that?”

Another said: “Inexcusable missed eye poke. Paddy Pimblett took on a ton of damage because of this when Gaethje should’ve lost a point.”

A fan suggested: “Illegal eye poke on Pimblett, and the referee is asleep at the wheel. Poor lad got pummeled while blind.

“Where’s the VAR or some s**t, how is this allowed?”

A final viewer even suggested: “Paddy has been robbed.”

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Eye poke controversy – why is it such a hot topic?

It is no surprise that the eye pokes are such a hot topic in the UFC right now.

Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall’s clash with Ciryl Gane in October was halted as the Briton was left unable to continue after suffering an eye poke from his rival.

The bout was declared a no contest and Aspinall has since had to receive surgery to correct the damage he suffered in the cage.

As a result, the MMA world has paid close attention to any fresh controversies, given they are illegal and can and should be punished.

And official Herb Dean even suggested that referees were being urged to take more action, with rules being enforced to a higher degree.

Although being extra vigilant, it was missed in the second instance, and Gaethje can find himself fortunate.