Daniel Cormier recovering from UFC 252 eye poke, will not need surgery

In the final stanza of what many dubbed the “Eye Poke Trilogy,” former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier suffered perhaps the worst eye poke of them all. However, the good news, it appears, is that Cormier will not be needing surgery.

In the closing seconds of the third round of Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier III at UFC 252, Miocic inadvertently struck Cormier in the left eye as the third round came to a close.

Cormier would fight the remaining two rounds without the ability to see out of his left eye, and Miocic ended up earning the unanimous decision victory.

The damage appeared quite gruesome. On Monday, however, Cormier gave us some good news on ESPN’s “Helwani and DC” Show: “They didn’t know if I wasn’t going to need surgery and do all these other things,” he said. “But luckily, I was able to recover, and I feel better.”

Cormier recounted how bad it initially felt. “The first week-and-a-half or so, it was really bad. It wasn’t open… But now it feels like I have an eyelash in it,” he said, adding that doctors told him he would probably not need surgery.

The former champ has instead been treating his eye with antibiotics and other medicines and says he is on the path to full recovery.