Daniel Cormier insists that he doesn’t look to poke his opponents in the eye intentionally.
Eye pokes became an issue in both of Cormier’s bouts with Miocic. Some credit Cormier’s eye poke with negatively impacting Miocic’s vision in their first encounter back in July 2018. Cormier knocked out Miocic in the opening frame. The rematch also saw Cormier catch Miocic with eye pokes but Miocic managed to pull off the fourth-round TKO to regain the UFC heavyweight championship. Still, Miocic had to undergo an eye procedure.
Daniel Cormier Fires Back At Eye Poke Allegations
Cormier spoke to MMAFighting and addressed those who believe he pokes his opponents in the eye intentionally.
“I’m not trying to poke the guy in the eye. That’s f**king stupid,” Cormier said. “Why would I ever do that? I don’t wish long term damage to this guy’s eye. I don’t wish that the guy can’t see out of his freaking eye. That’s crazy.
“One of my friends and co-workers deals with that, Michael Bisping. I don’t want to see another guy having to deal with that. That’s crazy. I’m not trying to poke this guy in the eye.”
Cormier explained that in the first encounter with Miocic, he was flicking his hand out to try to catch Miocic when he was out of range due to being the shorter fighter. For the second fight, Cormier said his knuckle got in Miocic’s eye and not the finger.
Cormier and Miocic will mix it up a third time on Aug. 15. The heavyweight title bout will headline UFC 252 inside the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cormier insists that win or lose, this will be the last fight of his pro MMA career. If he pulls off the win, Cormier will wrap up his career being a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, and a former UFC “champ-champ.”
