The fight ended with an accidental eyepoke, but the battle between Strikeforce mixed martial artists Trevor Prangley and Karl Amoussou continues to heat up - outside of the cage.

Prangley believes he was in control of the live, SHOWTIME televised Strikeforce Challengers middleweight (185 pounds) fight at San Jose, California's Civic Auditorium on Friday, February 26 and that he hurt Amoussou with a strong right hand before the foul. The punch, not so much the eyepoke, Prangley said, may have been a factor in why Amoussou didn't want to continue.

"That right hand is what changed the momentum in the fight," Prangley told Strikeforce.com. "When I hit him with that right hand, it hurt him. I know I was on my way to finishing the guy in the second round."

The fight was declared a technical draw with 46 seconds remaining in the first round after Prangley's left hand fingers jabbed Amoussou in the right eye (According to MMA rules in the state of California, the ringside physician has the discretion to stop a bout in the event that an accidental foul causes an injury).

At the time of the stoppage, the fight seemed fairly even. Prangley had gotten off to a slow start and Amoussou had connected with a few heavy shots in the early going. Both fighters were aggressive and able to land some clean shots to the head.

Amoussou told Strikeforce.com that he believed the fight was stopped too early and, had he been able to continue, he would have beaten Prangley.

"I would say to Trevor that he should stop talking (like I was looking for a way out) and that he should be very happy with a draw against me, because the following round would have been a nightmare for him," Amoussou said. "I think he knows it."

Amoussou said that the doctor never asked him if he was able to continue the fight. When Amoussou asked for more time to recover, the doctor told the referee, "I think we should stop the fight,' and, then, it was over," the fighter recalled.

"Of course I wasn't dying, but I was hurt, unable to open the eye, and needed time to recover," Amoussou said. "Even when you get dust in the eye you need one minute to see normally, so imagine after a finger in the eye, thrown with power."

Prangley, however, sees it a different way.

"I really didn't think the eyepoke was enough to stop the fight," Prangley said. "Normally when you get poked in the eye there is some tearing up and there is some trauma. There were no signs of trauma at all in his eye. I don't know if he was trying to get his five minutes and misunderstood."

Amoussou said he only needed a few minutes to recover.

"I needed three minutes to begin seeing and I'm not stupid to fight with a closed eye due to my opponent's mistake," Amoussou said.

Amoussou said he doesn't like the fact that Prangley is implying that Amoussou possibly used the eyepoke as an excuse not to continue.

"I think it's neither a fighter's, nor a man's attitude, and to be honest I don't think he was that much disappointed that the fight was stopped," Amoussou said.

Although he acknowledged the eyepoke was his mistake, Prangley insists he was firmly in control of the fight.

"I am really a slow starter," Prangley said. "Anyone who has seen me knows that it takes half-a-round and...