Imagine standing across the cage from your opponent, staring him in the eye, finally facing him. Everything in the last several months has been leading up to this moment. It feels like it’s been an eternity. The bell sounds and the referee signals the beginning of the fight. You and your opponent emerge from your corners, ready to do battle. Immediately your adversary throws a flying knee, but you block it. Then as you both step back, you realize that something is different. Your vision is blurry, and your left eye burns with pain. Something is very wrong.
- The highly anticipated match-up between Marius Zaromskis (left) and Waachiim Spiritwolf lasted only six seconds before the latter of the two men suffered an inadvertent eye poke, putting an end to the fight and ruling it a No Contest. Both competitors were immensely disappointed with the outcome. (Photo courtesy of Strikeforce)
It’s a fighter’s worst nightmare. But this was the reality of Waachiim Spiritwolf’s (6-6-1) battle with DREAM Welterweight Champion “The Whitemare” Marius Zaromskis (13-4-1) at Strikeforce Challengers 12 last Friday.
In the opening seconds of their battle, Zaromskis threw a flying knee as he closed in on Spiritwolf. His hands were extended out as if he intended on pulling Spiritwolf’s head into the knee. Spiritwolf was quick enough to block the knee, but in the process was inadvertently poked in the eye by one of Zaromskis’ fingers. “The Whitemare” must have realized what happened, as he immediately went back to his corner without even being told to do so. The ref stepped in and examined Spiritwolf’s left eye then allowed the fighter to take five minutes to recover from the eye poke. After several minutes offered no improvement for his vision, the ringside doctor examined Waachiim and deemed him clear to continue the fight if he felt up for doing so. He was given several more minutes to decide. Spiritwolf complained that his eye was still bothering him, and that his vision was becoming increasingly blurry and dark. The doctor entered the cage for a second time and examined Spiritwolf’s eye again. The welterweight had sustained a cut on his eyelid that was quickly swelling. After a series of questions and another evaluation of Spiritwolf’s left eye, the doctor regarded the fighter unfit to continue. The bout was ruled a No Contest. Both competitors left the ring clearly upset about the fight’s outcome. The crowd was vocal about their discontent with one of the most highly-anticipated matches on the card coming to such a sudden stop and without first showing any action. Continue reading »
