Video: How Ben Askren vs. Luis Santos ended via no-contest at ONE Championship 26

How exactly did today’s ONE Championship 26 headliner end in a no-contest? Check out video of the bizarre finish.

In a disappointing end to an intriguing championship main event, reigning welterweight titleholder Ben Askren (14-0), who’s ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, appeared to catch challenger Luis Santos (61-9-1) with a finger to the eye.

The bout took place Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, and streamed as an online pay-per-view North America. Unfortunately, viewers saw a first-round end to the main event.

After the eye-poke, which came during an Askren takedown attempt, the ref initially waved off the bout. However, after checking a replay, he gave Santos a five-minute recovery period. Although the actual break in action actually lasted much longer, Santos ultimately said he couldn’t continue, and the fight was stopped and declared a no-contest.

While Askren doubted the sincerity of Santos’ injury immediately after the fight, manager Jason Chambers tweeted that the challenger suffered an eye injury:

Check out the video recap above.

And for more on ONE Championship 26, check out the MMA Events section of the site.