Transcript of HENRY CEJUDO GIVES HIS SIDE OF THE EYE POKE SITUATION

Stick, Henry, please. Henry, I apologize. My computer shit the bed right before we started, so I look like Casper, the friendly ghost, but I'm here. We're doing a show. Right, Henry, I mean, where do we begin? I'm going to give you... I'll let you take the floor. I'm sure you've seen... There's all kinds of narratives and stuff like that. There's a lot of people saying that you were quitting and looking for a way out, et cetera, et cetera. We saw the video that you posted yesterday that I looked a really bad mess. We've had a few fighters on. We've all asked them, said, If you get a bad eye poke, you can't continue. Take it away, Henry.

Yeah. And you know what, dude? Honestly, I can be one of those guys. So I understand it. I watched the fight yesterday, and I could see why or where people would say something like that. Because, man, I'm going to tell you, man, I'm guilty of it. He's a pussy. He is the man. The whole nine. But I think it's the angle where he caught me is where it really went. If you could notice right now, dude, this is days later, man. The fact that I could open my eye, this means one thing. I think the thing that really threw me off was the fact that I was seeing double. So even when Son came at me at that time, just like, Man, what the fuck am I going to do? Just aim for the middle? You know what I'm saying?. Yeah. So that happened. And I can see where people took it that way because I'm smiling. But I'm thinking as a competitor, dude, I've wrestled my whole life. I get hit in the balls, eyes, whatever. Just give me time to come back. When I was on the cage, I was like, Dude, you guys, I'm going to fight, dude.

Just give me some time. Give me some time for this eyesight to come back. And I did not think it was going to get this long, but it's been apparently it did. But even till now, I'm still seeing blurry. We went to the ophthalmologist today and she said, You are lucky that he happened to get you on the white part of your eye, because if you would have hit me, if you would have hit you on the inside, he's like, Henry, you would have been blind. If there's anybody who understands this game, Biz being as you, man. I think the reason why I even wanted to do this interview, too, with you is just because I feel like you should be an advocate for this shit of having He plays because the referees do sometimes. There's a lot of people, they get fucking gun-shy, whatever that may be. They just don't know. And I get it. Or even the doctor that came in, he never really tested me, Bisby. When he asked me, he's like, Hey, I don't even know what he asked me. He's like, Dude, I'm seeing four eyes. I see two of you right now.

The dude is just like... The doctor, again, he doesn't want to stop the fire. He doesn't want to do anything. But when he asked me, he was like, I see double. I see two. You know what I'm saying? I can clearly open my first eye, but I see two. It's a really tricky one because at that moment in time, I know from the fighter's perspective, from your perspective, from 99 times out of 100, we want the fight to carry on.

But if the doctor and the referee, as good as Jason Hursag is, had done their job a little bit better, the third round wouldn't have continued. And it wouldn't have gone to the judge's scorecards. And if it had, if it did go to the judge's scorecards and a point was deducted when it should have been, it would have at least been a draw. Now, as you say, the eye poke, seeing double, I remember when I was seeing double, and the only way eventually the double went away was because my eye stopped working. Don't worry, you're not going to have that. I had a detached retina, then it redetached and I got glaucoma. But there's no question, Henry. I I mean, we were talking on the show and we were being honest and you can watch the show back. I thought you were being a veteran, taking the five minutes, and rightly so. Why wouldn't you do that? That's a perk. But then when the fight started and you weren't actually throwing, I'm like, Hold on a minute. Something comes up. Something comes up.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, for sure. And I think Paul even said it good because I watched it yesterday. He's like, All right, man, this is what Henry is doing. And of course, man, to me, I'm a better I'm a fighter. I figured, all right, man, that's why I asked the doctor, how much time do I have left on the run? I'm literally saying to calculate, all right, man, I'm going to be on for the rollerblades here for a minute. I'm just going to skate, skate my way through the run, give him the run, and then come back. But then one song, the last you want to do with an explosive fighter, which song is give him time. So even the times that he did hit me in the balls a couple of times, I'm like, Keep it going, keep it going, dude. He hit me, but I can suck it up. You know what I'm saying? Because the last thing you want to do is give this to the break of guys. You will load and punch like a maniac. So when I did go back, I had already calculated, all right, man, that's why I kept seeing this.

And if anybody knows this being is you. You know what I'm saying? Like the rallying of the eye. And I decided to go back, all right, a minute and 16 seconds. I didn't get hit. I'm just like, my vision isn't coming back. So then I wasn't going to play the guessing game. And I just wasn't, man, because even now that I see you guys, it's blurry. I got the screen here, and then there's another screen like this.

You see that's insane. And you can't fight like that. And I guess I just asked my wife to turn a light on me. I was getting shadows on me. But I look like shit. I apologize. Because we want to continue. So you went out, you had that final minute, and then was it like, Hold on a minute. This is stupid. I can't continue. I want to, but I'm seeing double. So that's why you were adamant. Get the doctor. Never mind this shit. I'm hurt. I'm seeing multiple versions of Sonja Dung. This is over, right?

Yeah, exactly, dude. So I think once I went into the... Once I tried that minute in 6: 00 to you and he was coming to me, he was pretty aggressive, too. I don't think he even caught anything. But then again, he I came back and started fighting like this. I'm like, What the fuck? Hold on. I'm like, What the fuck?

Can we talk about that, Henry? Because one of the things that frustrated us, especially on the commentary side, is, okay, the point didn't get taken. Probably should have, right? A really bad eye poke. There would have been another foul, and we're all getting to the point where this shit has to stop. Something has to be put in place to stop guys from sticking their fingers out. But then to get the eye poke that you had and to then have your opponent come out with a straight hand, fingers facing you, were you like, Why don't we just stop it right there and take the point now, at least? Because then it's like, you didn't listen to anything that was warned you. If you're warning the fighter, Hey, what's the eye pokes? The last thing you expect him to do is come out and literally point. That's where I got really frustrated for you. It was like, Man, that's bullshit. You can't do that anyway. To come out and do it after he poked you was, I don't want to say he did it on purpose. It was a little shady.

Yeah, that's exactly what it is. It's shady, man. That's exactly what it is. I think Jim Miller did a good little comment hit on this. It has shit to do with the gloves. You know what I'm saying? Just keep your hands in. And then the other thing, too, guys, I'm curious. If you guys can, Biz me, Paul, I would love for you guys to bring in Jason Herzog because back in the meeting, in the back, they always say, You cannot extend your fingers or I'm going to take a point. I know. I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, man, there should not be a warning. It's like basketball, dude. If you're playing basketball and you felt a foul, you didn't intend to, and then you made the shot, well, guess what? It's still a technical foul. Why don't we have that in fight? And the reality is, this being... Honestly, dude, I think because of your situation, and then I feel for you, bro. And it meant a lot for me that the fact that you came out on the back and just to check on it. I was like, Dude, you don't think things like this could happen to somebody until it does.

And I feel like for you, Michael, I think because of your situation, I would love to help regulate these rules to, Dude, no more warnings, man. In particular with the eyes, like replays, allow these reps to take their first time and be like, All right, dude, that's one point. There's always When is it going to be warnings, but when does that stuff... When does it stop, dude?

So I was talking to Mark Goddard about just this thing recently. And one thing he suggested, because I said, Fingers out like that. Of course. Got to be Don't allow it. You can make a fist. You can open it to parry a jab, a fraction of a second. So don't give me this bullshit. Make a fist. And it ain't the gloves. Jim Miller did a video that you were talking about saying, Look, the fingers are not restricted. The gloves go up to a little a bit on the foreknuckle. So it's not the gloves at all. It's a conscious decision. I'm going back, and I'm not trying to rip on song, but what song was doing, when the hands are out like that, I remember when I was wrestling, because obviously, wrestling is a little bit more alien to me than what it obviously is for you, Henry. But when people have the fingers out like that, I was like, How can I shoot in? I'm going to get pokes in the eye. And you've just had a double eye poke. You can't see your Olympic gold medalist, wrestler, And he's doing that at you. I couldn't believe it.

I think there needs to be a rule where a fist needs to be made. If there isn't an accidental eye poke, it's half a point deducted straight away. And then if it happens again, then you lose a point. But at least there is definitely some consequence irrevocably. What do you think about that?

Yeah, no, I 100 % agree. I think my vision My vision of, no pun intended, but my vision of MMA now, it changes a little bit because it's dangerous. The concussions, of course, all that stuff, the broken nose, the broken hand, my labor, Abram because I've broken all that and I've competed like that, and Dana knows that. But the eyesight deal with one stupid ass little mistake, and that's... I can only put myself in your shoes, Michael. These last These last couple of days, I'm just like, I can't play with my kids. You know what I'm saying? I signed a document today where I completely missed the black line. It's very unfortunate. But I also feel like Jason Herzog does need to be held accountable for something like this. If you're a veteran of the game, dude, and you understand the game, and then the dude started the round like that again, dude, that As Paul just said, that should automatically be a point ofduction. But luckily, when he did come in, we were actually fine. I really couldn't see what he was doing. I was just trying to always just running and survive running.

All right, keep my hands up. Let me see what It's going to happen. Let me see if I can get some more time to let my eyesight come back.

So let me first of all say, Henry, you're going to be okay. I mean, you've been seen by an ophthalmologist. So I've been there. It'll take a few days, and hopefully, you'll make a full recovery. I loved that song said to run it back. I know that you said that as well. I know that Dana didn't really feel like it didn't really show too much excitement for that. Where are you now? Because this is a really disappointing scenario for you, regardless of the iPhone. You come back, you want to make one last run. You have this situation. I mean, what's going through your mind now?

Yeah, no. Honestly, at this point, this is just coming out of me. And I talked to my wife about it today. I was like, Listen, man, I just want one last fight. I want to leave this sport unscaved at this point. You know what I'm saying? I'm just like, Dude, I don't want to be in this situation where I lose an eye or something crazy happens. Would I love to run it back with Song 100%? You know what I'm saying? This is why we had even predicted, like, Dude, this dude starts slowing down as the rounds go later. The last thing I'm going to do is give this guy a five-minute break, dude. I didn't need it. I really didn't do it, but I I got to take it because, dude, I'm not fighting. I'm not flying with the glitch, which I did, but I would love to run it back with him. But if I can run it back with him, I know Jan said that May is open. I'd love that fight with Peter Jan. You know what I'm saying? We can scrap it out. If my eye is going to get better, I'll be ready by May.

The song's already had a shot at Peter Jan. Give me Peter Jan, dude. I want the toughest and the greatest matches so I can get back to the title. But again, dude, And that could just be my last fight. I just want to fight one last time, whether I win, lose, or draw, dude. I just want to be able to finish a fight. And then to get back to Dana, it's like, Man, it's a bit disappointing But I could also see Dana's side, dude, because again, I could open my eye. I could see you guys, but I could just see two. You know what I'm saying? And I wish sometimes that Dana would just put away his promoter hat and be a fighter. And that's the beauty of being a fighter is we know what we've gone through. Dana, why? I love you, man, but you have never fought before. I don't even know if you've ever been poked in the eye. But whatever, man. When something like that, seriously, If it happens to you, then you'll see it a little bit different. And again, I want to apologize to everybody that's ever been eye-poked or kicked in the balls that I have judged because you just never know, man.

And then sometimes you You got to eat your own final humble pie. And I'm here to say, I got got. I'm sorry, guys, because I do talk a lot of shit, and I did not want a way out. But if we do it right, let's run it back. Let's run it back with song. Let's run it back ASAP, dude. I'll be ready in the next couple of months. I just got to let this thing heal, and I think it'll be good. But if I don't get song, I would love to fight it. I would love a fight against Pitter Yung.

Well, just on the eye thing, obviously, I've got a lot of experience I said, about five surgeries on the eye, lost the vision in it completely, kept it quiet, told a lot of lies, was able to still fight for God knows how many years. And I was always like, well, lightning struck. People don't really lose eyes in fighting. You know what I mean? You hear about it sometimes. I'm like, well, lightning is already struck. Lightning isn't going to strike twice because everyone was like, what are you doing? You're going to go from your blind? You're going to go blind if anything happens to your good eye. I'm like, yeah, well, the lightning isn't going I got to strike twice. So I continued. And then, of course, I started having issues with my good eye. Really? That's why I was tired. I was like, I'm done. I started having all the same shit that you're going through. I started having on my good eye. I was like, oh, fuck. And then somebody said to me, Do you don't want to see your kids grow up? Do you don't want to see what they look like when they're older?

And all that type. So if you start thinking about being blind. I remember when I thought Dan Henderson the second time and he fractured the orbital on the good eye and it swelled up so much, it went blind. And my coach, I couldn't see and I was wondering around the shower naked after the fire. And he's like, I'm walking into the walls and he's helping me get dressed and stuff because I literally couldn't see. Yeah, anyway.

Definitely the things That people that aren't involved in the sport definitely don't ever really get to see the behind the scenes and the repercussions of what goes on in there. I broke this orbital a bunch of times, and Dan Hooker broke it really bad in that fight. For that round, Henry, I had the same Same thing, he was just split into multiples. Same thing, you got a dangerous striker in front of him and you're thinking, Oh, for me, man. But luckily, when I went back to the corner and they put the end swell and whatever must have gotten jammed up in there, settled back down and I could see again, which is why I was able to continue. But otherwise, I couldn't imagine if I had to do... Because it was the first round, I would have had four more rounds where I literally was seeing multiple opponents. I know how bad that is to be in there and think, Okay, literally, you see multiple of them. You're like, I don't even know which is the real one.

Yeah, for sure. But honestly, dude, I think what would be good, man, is for you guys to get Jason Herzog on the deal, and then maybe even a doctor, maybe even that doctor. And I think the biggest thing business we can take out of this is how can us as fighters create? And again, dude, it's not like... The song is Sweetheart, bro. You know when you do a face off and you see somebody's beautiful Why? I can tell you he's a fucking sweetheart. There's a pureness to him. You know what I'm saying? That I was able to see. So it's not like... You know what I'm saying? It's not like he necessarily did it intentionally, but still, he was still having his fingers out there. I feel like, how is it that we as fighters can make these rules a little bit better? To maybe we create a board to where maybe some of this stuff could really take place where replays were... Take some shit from basketball, dude. You've traveled, you've traveled. It's a foul, dude.

They have what they call the review official. So they have instant replay only for the review official, which is basically one of the referees that isn't- Where the fuck was he at? No, I know. And they've got to watch it. That's why sometimes when they stop it and the referee is liaising with someone, that's the review official. The official. And they'll ask their opinion, say, Well, what do you think? And they'll say, Oh, no, it was fine. It didn't... Like there was a groin shot on Saturday night that just went off the side. The review official, and they went, No, it was fine. It wasn't a goal shot.

I think the problem is that that's there. And I think I know what you're saying, Henry, since it is there and since we do have it, once it's determined that, yeah, it was an egregious foul and it really did impact the fight, this is where the next rule needs to come in, where it's like, okay, then. That's it. We take it away. We take the point away. The warning is in the back. He met with you. He met with Song. Here's how it's going to go. If I see the fingers extended, if I see an eye poke, there should be a point. I think that's the only way moving forward.

What was the warning, Henry?

No, the warning... What Paul said is 100% correct. The warning is when Jason goes to the phone back and says-Yeah, when he can't get you in the locker room, they address certain things.

That's what Paul is talking about. What was the verbiage that he used when he was telling you about iPox?

Yeah, he says, Listen, your hands cannot be out in front or I'm going to take a point. And I'm like, All right. For one, I don't do that shit. My hands are always up. My hands are always to my side or try to be. It's just that they talk a lot of shit and they don't do anything, dude. And that's fucked up. You know what I'm saying? That's all I got to say, dude. I'm sure Jason is a great guy, too, but it's shitty on his part that they say all this, and by the time the fight goes down or something goes down, take your time. Oh, you're fine. Like, man, you. You know what I'm saying? There goes my eye and And for that reason, I lost. You know what I'm saying? I'm now this dude. So for me, trying to be a warrior and then trying to come back and do all this. And now I lost to a guy that has eight losses. You know what I'm saying? And I'm supposed to be the triple C, Bisbe.

No, I totally get it because you were trying to be a warrior. You were trying to tough it out. You did try and fight again. By the way, if he had a point deducted, it would have been a draw. There should have been a point deducted. Herzog is a great guy. He's a very conscientious referee, but they have got to be more... They've got to make the calls quicker, and they've got to be more... They're going to punish people for fouling straight away, and they will send the message. It'll get through pretty quick. And I, folks, will be almost a thing of the past.

Now-they'll stop.

They will.

But what I am surprised, what you did mention, because it's something that I did not know. I had no idea they had another free reviewing that. Now, that pisses me off. That pisses me off. That's just stupid, and that's just not cool, man.

It's just a shame for you, Henry. I mean, obviously, the loss and given what happened, and of course, that I... You have had... It's not an overstatement that you're one of the greatest combat sports athletes to ever live. Olympic gold medalist, two-way division champion. That's things They're titles, Paul, aren't there? People can only dream of.

And then you come back-We're really wet dream over.

And yeah, then this happens. So you're going to come back and go again?

Yeah. I think it depends, man. I think I want to do... If we get Yand, I would love to get Peter Yand. If we don't run it back with Song. If we don't run it back with Song, I would love to get Yand. But I don't know where the UFC are. They're probably pissed at me. Dana probably thinks I bitched out, and so does Hunter. They probably all think I bitched out. You know what I'm saying? This is what I'm thinking in my mind, where I'm just like, Dude, I got a one-year-old and a three-year-old. It's what you're saying, this is being like... I mean, I'll be happy to have one eye and raise them, but shit, it's better to have two than one. I don't know where I stand with the UFC on that sense because that was the main event. I do my best to promote fights. I put myself out there. I do the whole nine. You know what I mean? I'm doing all these theaters. I put that pressure on myself to do all that. It's just unfortunate that this had to happen this way. That's just not me. But at the end of the day, Paul and Bizbeck, I'm at peace, dude, because I know who I am.

I know what I've done. I just I hope that the UFC could give me... We could run it back with Song or Jan, but I'm thinking about this. I want to leave the sport unscaved, and I would like to just fight one more time, bro. I'm out, dude. That's it. I'm out.

Dude, I hope that things get worked out. For me, I don't care if it's Song or Jan. I'd like to see you get back in there and compete and go through the whole fight and be able to put your best out there and not have to be out there fighting with double vision, triple vision, and shit like that. I'm glad you came on, man, and I'm glad we got to talk and see your side because I feel like there's a lot of people that are too quick to judge because they don't know the situation. They don't know how bad it is. So to have you come on and explain it.

If I could say something to Paul, I was very calm when it happened because I figured, all right, I got poked, I can open my eye. I'm calm. It's going to come back. My wife was like, Hey, you probably should have acted. You probably should have been a little more dramatic. So people would be like, Oh, shit. Roll. You could be a Neymar. You know, like in soccer, start rolling like a man.

Or you could have done the Jean-Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport.

I could have.

That would have been epic.

That would have been so, hadn't we said Hudo if he did that?

I'm a hell of an actor, too. I just did a movie with Vinnie Chase and Adrian Grenier in Texas here, so they like my acting skills, but I just felt like- We got three actors right here.

We got to get our own thing going on here, man. Come on. That was the epic.

Mma spoofing. We're all good actors. We Come on. In a little scrid in a gym. I don't know. We could do that. We could do that, come up with a little thing. We know enough guys that could film it for us and whatnot. I know some directors. Come on, we're doing it.

We're doing it. No, but for sure. But what do you think, Biz, before we take off here? I'm very curious about you who has been in that situation who has literally... You lost an eye because of this. Can you... Oh, shit.

Yeah.

There you go. You're a magician, though.

Yeah, well. There it is. I'm in the mind of many talents.

It hasn't been out in a while.

Yeah.

But I'm curious to see if there's something where you can have more of a say or an influence with the UFC to say, Hey, man, this is how you should treat it as a fighter, because the majority of the judges and referees, they They have never laced their gloves before. You know what I'm saying? So we need somebody that could be an advocate there that has been through that storm.

If there was any movement that you wanted to start, I'm certainly not against being a part of that. But all of those decisions, it all goes down to the athletic commissions. It's not the UFC. It's the athletic commission that govern the rules, that put the referees in place, that choose the judges, It's all down to the athletic commissions. I don't have a dialog with those guys. As I said, if you wanted to start something, I'm not against being a part of that 100 %, Henry, because I have been through it. So I would help you for sure. But as I said, people think it's the UFC. They're just the sport. They're the promoter. It's the athletic commission state by state. So it's going to be really hard getting any rules changed. I think a rule should be implemented that we You have to have a closed fist. Simple as that. And then you can open to catch and grab and grapple, or at least like that. What's so hard about doing that as opposed to that? I don't get it. Well, Henry, you're going to be okay. I am sorry that that went down like that because a guy of your caliber doesn't deserve that.

Thanks for coming on today because I thought we got to hear your side because you know what everyone's going to be saying, You know what everyone's going to say in the comment section of this episode. If you had one message to anyone that's talking shit in the comments down below right now, what would that be?

That you guys could all bend the fucking knee to King triple.

There we go. That's the perfect way to end it. There it is. Henry, you little bastard, you have to talk shit about my eye in the octagon again. I'll pop your other fucking eye.

Get out of here. Let's Salute.

Thanks, Henry. You're the man, dude.