Oh boy, Guilherme Bravo really didn’t hold back when he dished on that whole eye-poke mess from the Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva fight at UFC on ESPN 54. And let me tell ya, it was quite the controversy.
So, Bravo’s a big shot in the MMA judging and refereeing scene down in Brazil. He’s got this YouTube show, “Momento Bravo,” where he spills the tea on all things MMA. This time, he had a bone to pick with referee Gary Copeland. Apparently, Weidman snagged a win first, but whoops – it got flipped to a technical decision for Silva ’cause of some nasty eye pokes.
Bravo was like, “Hold up, Copeland, you’re playing favorites!” He pointed out this other fight, Herbert Burns vs. Julio Arce, where Copeland was all over the video replay. Caught an illegal knee from Burns and docked points like it was nothing.
But with Weidman-Silva? Bravo reckons Copeland kinda dropped the ball. He mentioned this new rule change about eye pokes. Fighters get five minutes to recover, can even use gauze and serum right there in the ring. Silva got poked in the second round, and Copeland? Barely blinked. Rushed Silva to get back to fighting without giving him proper time to recover. Bravo was not impressed.
He even said, just having your hand out there, fingers ready to jab an eye, that’s a foul, folks. Weidman was doing that the whole fight, and Copeland? Silent as a mouse.
Bravo thinks Weidman should’ve lost more than just a point for those eye pokes. He’s like, “If it’s an intentional foul causing injury, you gotta take two points, no question.” He suggested that before Bruce Buffer could even get the words out, Copeland should’ve hit the replay, seen the foul, and docked those points.
And just before he signed off, Bravo threw in a zinger. He’s all for the UFC switching up their gloves to something like what they used in Pride. Or hey, even Bellator’s gloves, ’cause they seem to keep those fingers away from eyes better.
Man, Bravo sure had a lot to say. Makes you wonder if the UFC will take any of it to heart.