Marc Goddard says Christian Leroy Duncan was warned before UFC eye-poke penalty

Marc Goddard has explained why he deducted a point from Christian Leroy Duncan for poking Brendan Allen in the eye during their recent Ultimate Fighting Championship main event.

Duncan (15-3) and Allen (28-7) headlined UFC Vegas 122 on Saturday at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Goddard, who refereed the bout, deducted a point from Duncan for an eye poke in the second round after warning him about his outstretched fingers.

The deduction drew attention because referees rarely take a point for a first infraction. Ultimately, the penalty did not affect the scoring outcome, as Allen submitted Duncan with a rear-naked choke in the final round.

Goddard said referees review the rules with fighters in the locker room, specifically addressing potential eye pokes. He had warned Duncan about his outstretched fingers in the opening round and reminded him to be careful with his hands before the second began.

Goddard said addressing eye pokes is a priority for officials, though he acknowledged the difficulty of changing fighters’ ingrained habits through brief prefight conversations.

“I’d like to offer some clarity on this as I believe it’s a teachable moment & gives insight into what we are doing as officials to overcome certain obstacles,” Goddard wrote on X. “As referees we go over the rules one to one with fighters in the back before the fight begins, here we specifically cover potential eyes pokes. If you watch you will hear me warn CLD in round one for outstretched fingers toward the face. I then again, before the start of the next round, ask him to be careful & mindful of the hands. It is then when the eye poke occurs do I take definitive action. CLD is a credit to the sport of MMA & an exceptional athlete. There’s so much more, mechanically to addressing eye pokes in MMA both preventatively (before the action) and correctively (after the action) it is very hard to expect an athlete to change 20 years of training & habit with a few minutes of conversation pre fight. Just know that both myself and my colleagues know it is a firm priority to address & fix this. All respect to the athletes & our sport. Thank you.”