Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad ended in an unfortunate no-contest after an inadvertent eye poke from Edwards rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
The fight was called off just 18 seconds into the second of five scheduled rounds at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. Edwards was given a warning by referee Herb Dean for an eye poke in the opening stanza but was not disqualified for the second foul because both were deemed accidental.
Muhammad writhed in pain and said he could not see out of his right eye after Edwards extended his left hand while attempting to set up a left kick to the body. Muhammad took the fight on short notice after replacing Khamzat Chimaev, who withdrew from his matchup with Edwards because he is still recovering from lingering effects stemming from his December COVID-19 diagnosis.
Edwards, the No. 3-ranked contender at 170 pounds, hadn’t fought since beating Rafael dos Anjos in July 2019 yet a win over Muhammad would’ve earned him a title shot against reigning welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman.
The Birmingham, England native’s most recent loss was a three-round unanimous decision to Usman back in 2015 before he was champion.
Edwards said after the fight he should still be next in line for a title shot but the no-contest result means it’s not quite clear what’s next for Edwards.
Muhammad had won eight of his past nine fights and is insisting on a rematch whenever he has fully recovered from his eye injury.
Below are the complete results from the event.
MAIN CARD
-- Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad ends in no-contest (accidental eye poke)
-- Ryan Spann def. Misha Cirkunov by technical knockout
-- Dan Ige def. Gavin Tucker by knockout
-- Davey Grant def. Jonathan Martinez by knockout
-- Matheus Nicolau def. Manel Kape by split decision
-- Eryk Anders vs. Darren Stewart ends in no-contest (illegal knee)
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Angela Hill def. Ashley Yoder by unanimous decision
-- Charles Jourdain def. Marcelo Rojo by technical knockout
-- Rani Yahya def. Ray Rodriguez by submission (arm-triangle choke)
-- Nasrat Haqparast def. Rafa Garcia by unanimous decision
-- JJ Aldrich def. Cortney Casey by split decision
-- Jinh Yu Frey def. Gloria de Paula by unanimous decision
-- Matthew Semelsberger def. Jason Witt by knockout
