Justin Tafa suffered a gnarly eye poke less than 30 seconds into his fight against fellow heavyweight bruiser Austen Lane at the UFC Jacksonville event last weekend in “The Sunshine State,” leaving the 29 year-old Aussie unable to continue.
The fight was later ruled a No Contest.
“Want to make a big shoutout to the UFC staff for getting me to the hospital straight after the fight was called,” Tafa wrote on social media. “Cleared of any major damage to both eyes but both eyes did suffer some damage. Right eye still in some pain, sensitive to light and blurred vision on the but I thank God nothing that was going to end my career or cause serious damage to my eye. Thank you all for your concern sorry I couldn’t put on a show on but I’ll be back soon.”
No word yet on whether or not the promotion will book a rematch.
The outcome stymied Tafa’s momentum after racking up consecutive first-round knockout victories over Harry Hunsucker (UFC Vegas 45) and Parker Porter (UFC 284). The current recovery timeline puts Tafa (6-3, 1 NC) back in the cage by the end of the year.