Lightweights Daron Cruickshank and K.J. Noons were having a competitive and entertaining fight on The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale main card until an accidental eye poke brought an end to the contest.
Noons pressed forward from the opening bell, but Cruickshank met him with strikes as he tried to close the distance. Cruickshank mixed up his offense with kicks, punches and takedown attempts. He outworked Noons in the opening frame, but Noons came on late in the round.
Noons picked up the intensity in the second frame. He pressed forward and attacked. As Noons was measuring his distance with his hand extended, Cruickshank caught a finger in his left eye. He was given time to recover, but was unable to see out of the eye. A doctor was called in to check his vision and determined that Cruickshank was unable to continue.
“Due to an unintentional foul, and not reaching the third round, this fight is declared a No Contest,” read ring announcer Bruce Buffer. Had the eye poke occurred in the third round, the judges’ scorecards would have determined a winner.
