UFC Vegas 21 review: Leon Edwards’ return to octagon after a 602-day absence ends in no contest after eye poke on Belal Muhammad

UFC Vegas 21 saw the return of Englishman Leon Edwards after a 602-day absence. Unfortunately for the fighter, an accidental eye poke on his opponent Belal Muhammad led referee Herb Dean to call an end to the fight in round two.

Here TIBS NEWS review that fight and the rest of the card.

No contest in the main bout due to a nasty eye poke

Edwards started the fight off well, successfully landing punches and countering his opponent at every opportunity. In round one, he landed a huge kick which rocked Muhammad and it looked like the fight could have been over then. But it was round two where the unintentional eye poke took place leading to a pause in the bout. After a review on the eye from a doctor, it was declared that the No 13-ranked could not continue in that state. We all wish Muhammad the best in his recovery.

A fight of the night performance from Ryan Spann

The co-main event of the night also finished in rapid fashion as Ryan Spann knocked out Misha Cirkunov in the first round. Just one minute and 11 seconds into the fight, Spann landed a picture-perfect wide hook with his right which sent his opponent to the mat. He then jumped on him and took him out, earning the win.

A highlight-reel knockout for Davey Grant

The first round of this fight made it seem as if Jonathan Martinez was going to get out of the fight untouched if Grant didn’t change anything, so that’s exactly what he did. He started the second round well on top and threw the same right to the body, left to the head, that he threw in his last fight to knock his opponent out. Grant did suffer however, saying after the fight that he believes he may have broken his foot.

Split decision sends Nicolau home happy

It was a risky move from Manel Kape to fight just a month after his previous trip to the octagon and at first it seemed like it was all too much with Mattheus Nicolau landing some nice inside leg kicks and takedowns. Kape got more of a grip of the fight and took round two with a huge upper cut. The final round was a close, tactical affair and went to the judges’ scorecards. They scored it 29-28 Nicolau, 29-28 Kape, 29-28 Nicolau.

Elsewhere from UFC Vegas 21…

The main card also consisted of a fight of the night performance from Dan Ige, knocking Gavin Tucker out in 22 seconds. Eryk Anders versus Darren Stewart also ended controversially, with the doctor ruling the fight over after an illegal knee from Anders. Referee Herb Dean didn’t see any malicious intent in the move, so he ruled it as a no contest.

By Daniel Perry