Danielle Taylor on UFC Fight Night 101 controversy: 'I know I didn't poke her eye'

MELBOURNE, Australia – Danielle Taylor was confident she deserved the win. She’s also sure that it’s a clean victory without controversy.

In Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 101 main-card opener, Taylor (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) picked up her first career UFC victory after earning a narrow split-decision win over fellow strawweight Seo Hee Ham (16-8 MMA, 1-3 UFC).

The bout, which aired on FS1 from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, saw Taylor struggle in the first round, but after finding her range and pushing the action, she finished strong to get the win via 28-29, 30-27 and 30-27 scores.

However, things got a little confusing when Ham claimed a pair of eye-pokes. Referee John Sharp let Ham call her own timeout during the first one – despite not appearing to see the foul for himself. After the same sequence played out again late in the fight, Sharp instructed Ham to fight on. Taylor capitalized and teed away.

“Well, I knew I didn’t – I know I didn’t poke her eye,” Taylor said after the fight. “But I waited. Once the ref gave me the green light, I went. I’m not going to stop. He said go, (so) go. Green means go. It’s a fight.”

This screen grab, though, seems to suggest otherwise (via Twitter):

Regardless, Taylor, who suffered a split-decision loss to Maryna Moroz in her promotional debut, got back in the win column with the victory over Ham (though, according to MMADecisions.com, most media outlets scored the fight for her opponent). Still, Taylor was confident the decision would go her way.

“I pretty much knew I had it,” the 27-year-old said.

Check out the full video above to hear her reasoning and why she sticks to the same game plan for each bout.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 101, check out the UFC Events section of the site.