Matt Mitrione suffers horrific eye injury at UFC Fight Night 81 after Travis Browne gets away with two eye pokes

Mitrione was poked in the eye twice by Browne during his TKO defeat at UFC Fight Night 81

Matt Mitrione suffered a horrific eye injury in his defeat by Travis Browne (Getty Images)

It’s never a good thing to come away from a UFC event having been knocked out, but spare a thought for heavyweight Matt Mitrione after his loss to Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 81 on Sunday night.

37-year-old Mitrione suffered a technical knockout defeat in the second round, but by this time the American had already been poked in the eye twice and seen a lump the size of a golf ball swell up on his eye.

The swelling was so bad that Mitrione was unable to see out of his right eye, and he was left near-defenceless when Browne took him down to the canvas despite being cleared to fight on by the doctor.

Fans in the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, made their feelings known at the end of the bout as boos rang out in the arena, but the sight of Mitrione’s horribly swollen eye did nothing to ease the tension in the crowd who clearly felt that Browne should have been docked at least a point for poking his opponent in the eye.

Matt Mitrione's right eye begins to swell at the end of the first round (Getty Images)


 Mitrione is taken down by Travis Browne at UFC Fight Night 81
 (Getty Images)

Browne takes Mitrione down before finishing the fight (Getty Images)

Browne's hand is raised in victory as Mitrione ices his right eye (Getty Images)


 Mitrione is left with a badly swollen eye after his loss to Browne
 (Getty Images)

However, fans were soon given plenty to cheer about as former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz returned to the Octagon for the first time since 2014 – and just his second fight since 2011 due to three anterior cruciate ligament injuries as well as a torn groin – to beat TJ Dillashaw by split-decision and regain the title at 135-pounds.