Abdul Razak Alhassan and Cody Brundage barely got started at UFC Denver before the fight was already over just 37 seconds into the opening round.
As expected, the middleweights wasted no time getting the actions started with Alhassan thwarting a takedown attempt and then unloading a barrage of punches and elbows as Brundage scrambled to survive the onslaught. Despite repeated blows, Brundage still managed to grab onto Alhassan’s leg for a potential takedown.
That’s when Alhassan began unloading elbows in success with referee Dan Miagliotta warning him to watch shots to the back of the head. As he continued raining down shots from above, Miragliotta finally saw enough to pause the action as he admonished Alhassan for repeatedly landing illegal shots with Brundage reacting as if he just lost the fight.
It wasn’t until the referee explained to him that he took illegal shots to the back of the head that Brundage tried to recover but he was clearly still dazed as he sat down on the canvas.
Eventually a pair of ringside physicians came into the octagon to check on Brundage, who was clearly still struggling with the after effects of the punishment he absorbed. The physicians eventually decided that Brundage could not continue and the fight was waved off.
Miragliotta then declared the fight as a no contest due to “accidental blows to the head.”
It’s an unfortunate ending to what started as a really exciting matchup between two well-known finishers. Now both fighters go home with a no contest on their records and miss out on either of them earning a win bonus on Saturday night.
