Megan Olivi recommends severe repercussions for malicious fouls in light of Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane eye poke fiasco

Megan Olivi is calling for accountability following the chaotic UFC 321 main event between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane. An accidental eye poke ended the fight in the first round.

Olivi has urged the sport to rethink its approach to fouls. The veteran broadcaster believes fighters who repeatedly commit dangerous fouls should face penalties, even removal from the roster if intent can be proven.

Speaking in a recent episode of The Bohnfire podcast, Olivi said:

"If they continue, there's got to be repercussions for actions that you can control. A lot of times, people will commit fouls and nothing happens. I don't believe anyone is out there doing this maliciously or to gain an advantage, but it does happen, and it does inevitably a lot of times give an advantage because it happened. I think making sure people are held accountable for the things they are doing with their body inside the octagon is also really important." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

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She added:

"If people continue to fight through fouls because they worked so hard and this is their payday and this is the opportunity they've waited so long for... who knows what it'll take to get rescheduled? I think we have to ensure there is proper protocol when things happen... Maybe there's three [fouls that Olivi can remember in her career] that were malicious... And to me, I feel like you should not compete again for the organization."

Check out Megan Olivi's comments below (15:00):

Gane appeared remorseful, and most observers agree that the foul was unintentional. That being said, regulators may now take notice after the recent incident.

California’s athletic commission is reportedly reviewing how intent is defined in foul rulings, something Olivi supports. She also pointed out that some fighters have developed reputations for repeated fouls, and that trend must stop.

Megan Olivi urges UFC to review repeat offenders after foul controversies

Megan Olivi wants the UFC to take a harder look at fighters who repeatedly commit fouls. She acknowledged that most illegal moves are accidental but argued that recurring offenders gain unfair advantages and damage the sport’s image.

Speaking in the aforementioned podcast, Olivi claimed that repeat eye pokes, groin strikes, and fence grabs should lead to real penalties:

"There's also a pattern of people who are doing them committing them more often than not. Like we see, 'This person is known for eye pokes or hitting the groin or this person grabs the fence sometimes on their way down.' We sometimes see trends, and that can't continue because it is an unfair advantage. I think a revision is probably needed because the intentional foul is probably never going to come up in most referees' careers, to have a punishment when there is a foul because we're not often going to see things maliciously."