Darren Stewart appeared to be on the verge of being stopped in the first round tonight at UFC Fight Night 187 until Eryk Anders got carried away and landed an illegal knee while his opponent was on one knee, which led to the bout being declared a no-contest.
Round One:
Outside leg kick for Stewart. He lands a calf kick as Anders throws a punch. Jab lands for Stewart.
Anders moves into range and gets caught by a couple of hooks from Stewart that forces him to back off.
Anders looking to change things up now as he goes in for a takedown, but Stewart defends against the cage and lands a knee to the body. Anders still trying hard for the takedown and almost gets it, but Stewart shows good balance to survive that attempt.
Anders with a knee to the body and then drives into another takedown attempt against the cage. They peel off the cage for a moment and then back into it, still clinched up.
Stewart tries to escape but Anders keeps him close. Anders tags him with a couple of straight punches and Stewart looks a little dazed. Anders goes back to the takedown and gets it, but Stewart is soon back up.
Anders lands again and Stewart’s still a bit rocked as more blows continue to make the situation worse for him. Stewart trying to fire back though and Anders is bleeding, but the Brit’s chin is out there waiting to be hit and Anders does just that, and lands a knee too.
Stewart still standing, but he’s virtually out on his feet and under fire he goes down to one knee against the cage. Anders eager to finish this one, but unfortunately he gets carried away and lands an illegal knee while Stewart is still grounded, and that forces a stoppage.
The referee and doctor are checking on Stewart. He eventually rises to his feet and seems to be willing to continue despite the knee having landed to the side of his head. However, the doctor clearly isn’t comfortable about the fight proceeding and eventually decides that it can’t continue.
So, unfortunately the fight ends in a no-contest ruling and as such we could well see the UFC revisiting this match-up at a later date.
