UFC 181 prelims results: Urijah Faber gets submission win after eye poke

Urijah Faber continued his streak of winning every non-title fight he's ever taken part in, but it came in a strange way. Faber, who was taking on Francisco Rivera in the featured fight on the UFC 181 preliminary card, wasn't looking all that great until the finish either.

Rivera came out working his vaunted striking game and was getting the better of the exchanges in the first round. He also showed off some improved takedown defense, keeping Faber at bay for the full five minutes. Faber was coming up short with left hooks and didn't really get a lot going. Rivera likely took the round.

The second was looking like more of the same for the first minute, until the weirdness commenced. Faber clearly poked Rivera in the eye, which made Rivera wince and stumble backwards toward the cage. Referee Mario Yamasaki completely missed it though, and the fight continued. Faber charged over to a kneeling Rivera with punches, then got Rivera in a headlock/bulldog choke, and Rivera was forced to tap out.

Rivera was clearly frustrated in the aftermath, slamming his fists on the mat. Faber said after the bout that he didn't realize he had poked him in the eye until he saw the replay and that it was unfortunate. Regardless though, Faber picked up his eighth UFC win for now, at the 1:34 mark of round two. The Nevada State Athletic Commission might take a look at this one though.