Francisco Rivera camp plans appeal after eye poke, submission loss to Urijah Faber

Francisco Rivera and Urijah Faber

The manager of UFC bantamweight Francisco Rivera said he plans to appeal the fighter’s loss to Urijah Faber on the FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary card of tonight’s UFC 181.

Jason House of Iridium Sports Agency confirmed to MMAjunkie his intention to contest the outcome and declined additional comment.

Faber earned a second-round submission via bulldog choke, but his win was unquestionably aided by an accidental eye poke moments prior to the finish, which came at the 1:08 mark of the frame.

Rivera (10-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC), 33, stood to gain tremendously from a win against ex-WEC champ Faber (32-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC), one of the UFC’s most popular fighters in the lighter divisions. It was Faber’s second straight win since a TKO loss to then-interim champ Renan Barao.

Faber acknowledged poking Rivera in the eyes after seeing a replay on the video monitors at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center, which hosted tonight’s pay-per-view event.

“I definitely got him in the eye,” Faber said. “I didn’t know it at the moment. That was pretty crappy for him. You don’t wish that on anyone.”

In 2009, now-light heavyweight champ Jon Jones was disqualified from a bout with Matt Hamill after instant replay showed he landed an illegal elbow amid a flurry of strikes that brought a first-round stoppage.

It is unclear whether instant replay was in use for UFC 181, overseen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. A text message to NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett wasn’t immediately returned.

In previous instances, fighters have faced an uphill battle in overturning official decisions. They must prove a bout was marred by collusion, a scoring error, or the misapplication of the official rules.

For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Events section of the site.