Leon Edwards’ long awaited return to the octagon has gone down like a lead balloon, with his comeback fight against Belal Muhammad ending with a “no contest”.
After easing his way back in in the opening round, Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the right eye.
Immediately the referee stopped the fight, as Muhammad’s tears flowed and his right eye swelled with blood.
The result has once again reignited the debate over the gloves worn by fighters, with calls to extend the glove so fingers don’t protrude out.
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Painful eye poke derails main event
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It was the second “no-contest” of the UFC Fight Night, after controversy surrounded the earlier middleweight fight between Eryk Anders and Darren Stewart.
Anders – a former Alabama football player – landed an illegal knee while Stewart was grounded, with one knee and one hand on the mat, which saw the referee Herb Dean intervene to pause the action.
Stewart attempted to continue, only for the doctor to reject his appeals as Dean waved the fight off at 4:37 in the first round. But the fight had not gone two full rounds, and Dean interpreted Anders’ illegal shot as accidental – meaning the result was controversially deemed a no-contest, rather than a disqualification.
ANOTHER illegal knee wreaks havoc
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Edwards, meanwhile, was left “heartbroken” as his first fight in 18 months failed to get the win he desperately craved.
Unfortunately, he will likely have to wait to get that chance following Sunday’s (AEDT) “no-contest”.
“Firstly I apologise to Belal, I didn’t mean to do [it],” Edwards said.
“I went for the crosshead kick, he stepped into it and I really apologise.
“I’d rather a loss than that, you know. I’m heartbroken, I don’t know what to say.”
After a series of postponements, UFC president Dana White had said Edwards, who had climbed to third in the welterweight ratings after his win over Rafael dos Anjos on July 20, 2019, would get the chance at champion Kamaru Usman should he defeat Muhammad.
Where the no-contest leaves him is now anyone’s guess.
“Exactly. What now, what do I now?” Edwards said.
“I went in there focusing on my next chapter to be world champion; just heartbroken. It’s been a long, long year and a half and to come back to that.”
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