UFC 217 results: Mark Godbeer takes kick to the face – and DQ win over Walt Harris

The prelims at UFC 217 continued to have bizarre moments, maybe none more so than Mark Godbeer’s disqualification win over Walt Harris.

Godbeer (13-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) beat Harris (10-7 MMA, 3-6 UFC) after Harris landed a low knee, then a kick to the face after the referee called for time several times. The fight was stopped at the 4:29 mark of the first when the cageside doctor said Godbeer couldn’t continue due to the illegal kick.

The heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 217 event at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Harris came out looking like he wanted to go home in a hurry. He landed some solid kicks early, and when the fight went to the canvas he jumped to mount with perfection. Godbeer was able to quickly recover to full guard, but had to deal with Harris on top looking for ground-and-pound.

After the two got back to their feet, they clinched up. And there, Harris landed a low knee to Godbeer’s groin. When referee Blake Grice called time, Harris continued to go – and threw a big head kick that landed.

Godbeer struggled to stay on his feet, and ultimately went to his knees. When the doctor came in to check on him, it was determined he couldn’t continue and the fight was called. Replays showed even though Grice didn’t get physically between the two after the groin strike, he yelled “Time!” several times before Harris threw the kick, and Grice’s hands were on Harris, as well.

Godbeer picked up the win by disqualification with 31 seconds left in the first round. He won for the second straight time and fifth time in six fights. Harris suffered his second straight loss.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 217 results include:

• Mark Godbeer def. Walt Harris via disqualification (illegal kick) – Round 1, 4:29
• Ovince Saint Preux def. Corey Anderson via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 1:25
• Randy Brown def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Curtis Blaydes def. Aleksei Oleinik via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 1:56
• Ricardo Ramos def. Aiemann Zahabi via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:58

For complete coverage of UFC 217, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Mike Bohn, Ken Hathaway and Abbey Subhan contributed to this report on site in New York.)