"Should be a TKO" - MMA world outraged as Vicente Luque is allowed to continue fighting after going down from legal strike mistaken for eye-poke

Vicente Luque made his octagon return against Joel Alvarez this weekend at UFC Rio, and a particular moment in the bout drew significant attention from the MMA community, leading to various reactions.

Luque faced Alvarez in a three-round welterweight match on the main card. In the opening round, the Spaniard seemingly landed a legal strike on Luque, which the referee ruled as an eye poke.

This incident dissatisfied many fans and analysts in the MMA world, prompting them to express their frustrations on social media. Prominent combat sports journalist Damon Martin stated that it should have been ruled a TKO.

"Nobody seems to know the rules, but that should be a TKO #UFCRio"

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

Others commented:

"I don’t know if I’ve ever screamed at the TV louder. Unreal!" "We brought the doctor in for a legal punch lol this is getting old" "The UFC keeps doing this sh*t, it happened with JAKE MATHEWS, now again with this fight. Two of the biggest underdogs in the card. Someone needs to be accountable." "Ref’s must be allowed to change their minds when they feel like it after stopping the fight lol so weird" "We’re just going to ignore Joel Alvarez got robbed of a first round finish and enjoy this fight? Cool. ☕️"

Check out more reactions below:

MMA world's reaction to Vicente Luque's incident. [Screenshots courtesy: Respective X handles]

Luque appeared to struggle against Alvarez in the following rounds. Throughout all three rounds, the Spaniard outclassed the veteran fighter in every aspect, ultimately securing a unanimous decision victory.

With this win, Alvarez extended his winning streak to four fights. Before defeating the Brazilian, he had also claimed victories over Drakkar Klose, Elves Brener, and Marc Diakiese. His last defeat in the UFC was against Arman Tsarukyan in 2022.

On the other hand, Luque faced his second consecutive defeat of 2025. Prior to losing to Alvarez, he had fallen short against Kevin Holland at UFC 316.

Edited by Nilaav Gogoi