A pivotal welterweight fight between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21 was the second bout on Saturday’s event to end in a no-decision after a foul.
Referee Herb Dean waved off the bout at the 0:18 mark of the second round, shortly after Muhammed took a nasty eyepoke that sent him to the canvas in pain. The unfortunate ending came five bouts after the event’s main card opener ended in a no-decision when Eryk Anders landed an illegal knee to the head of a grounded Darren Stewart. Including the illegal knee from Petr Yan that crowned Aljamain Sterling the new bantamweight champion at UFC 259, it was the third octagon bout to end with a foul in one week.
Here’s what Twitter had to say about the UFC Vegas 21 headliner and other main card bouts.
My heart is shattered my first main event ended like that but Gods the best of planners im sorry to the fans and the @ufc you deserved a full fight.. Alhamdillah the vision is coming back and no permanent damage to the eye I’ll be back and want to run it back @Leon_edwardsmma pic.twitter.com/5xsvhmZ5Uh
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 14, 2021
Eye pokes hurt like nobody understands. It should be an automatic DQ.
— Sam Alvey (@smilensam) March 14, 2021
What in the hell is going on??? Unintentional but damn man. That’s so so shitty. So many fouls, so many fouls. #UFCVegas21
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 14, 2021
Maaaan, Leon was looking super slick. Fakes, stance changes, everything looking great. Shit to see it end like that. Hope belal is okay
— Lando Vannata (@GroovyLando) March 14, 2021
Hope his eye is ok. I was scared I was about to see an eye hanging. #UFC
— Niko Price (@Nikohybridprice) March 14, 2021
Gutted for the Main Event,
Run it back ASAP!!!!— D (@darrentill2) March 14, 2021
Wow that eye is looking bad after that poke. Hoping the eye is ok after this. wishing you a speedy recovery @bullyb170
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) March 14, 2021
As someone who gets eye poked every single sparring session, it’s fucking horrible. And Belal’s looks worse than any I’ve ever experienced.
Hope you heal up quick @bullyb170 https://t.co/91rnr7JBYk— Jessy Jess (@missjessyjess) March 14, 2021
Ok couple things
1. This is the stuff that gives me nightmares about competing
2. As a fighter you should have the wherewithal to err on the side of caution, if you can’t do that are you really a professional
3. Should we start fighting with the 7 oz gloves? pic.twitter.com/oXs96DefU1— Louis Smolka (@LASTSAMURAIUFC) March 14, 2021
We need new gloves. Period!
They’re out there. I just don’t understand what we’re waiting for to make these changes. How many more eye injuries do we need to bring these new gloves in, that significantly reduce the spreading of the fingers.#UFCVegas21
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 14, 2021
What just happened out there?
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) March 14, 2021
Grant with the knockouts
— Bonecrusher ☠️ (@Marc_Diakiese) March 14, 2021
Grant’s punches come from around the moon and back, but MAN do they do damage when they land! #UFCFightnight
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) March 14, 2021
I thought Kape took the 2nd and 3rd. Tough break for him.
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 14, 2021
Come on bro these guys don’t know the rules ♂️ ♂️ ♂️ ♂️ ♂️ ♂️ some Dumb shit #UFCVegas21
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) March 14, 2021
Dude! Did we somehow forget what it means to be a grounded opponent!
— Neil Magny (@NeilMagny) March 14, 2021
Are u fucking kidding me !!! Fuck the doctor
— U R I A H H A L L (@UriahHallMMA) March 14, 2021
Same illegal strike but no extra show
— Chito Vera (@chitoveraUFC) March 14, 2021
YOU CANT KNEE SOMEONE IN THE HEAD WHEN THEY ARE DOWN
— Kevin MTP Lee (@MoTownPhenom) March 14, 2021
