British heavyweight receives brutal illegal kick on UFC 217 card

Mark Godbeer got the win but he won't be thrilled with the manner in which the 13th victory of his professional career arrived.

The English heavyweight wasn't even in the Octagon when the result of his fight with Walt Harris was announced by veteran announcer Bruce Buffer. Towards the end of the UFC 217 prelims on Saturday night, Godbeer was on his way to losing the first round of his clash with Harris when controversy brought the bout to a close. With just 30 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the pair tied up in the centre of the Octagon and Harris landed an accidental knee to the groin of his opponent. Godbeer backed up in pain and referee Blake Grice quickly called a timeout to allow the Brit to recover but Harris continued to come forward and unleashed a vicious head kick on the former BAMMA heavyweight champion.

Peso-pesado: Walt Harris?? perdeu por desqualificação para Mark Godbeer?? - #UFCnoCombate "polêmica à vista"! pic.twitter.com/3dYGjs7myo

— Raimundo de Andrade (@andraderaimundo) November 5, 2017

Godbeer stumbled and fell to his knees and, after a doctor's examination, he was deemed unable to continue. Given that the debilitating blow was a clearly illegal one, whether it was intentional or not, Harris was disqualified and Godbeer received the second win of his UFC career.

Walt Harris is disqualified and the winner is Godbeer! @MarkGodbeerUK #ufc217 pic.twitter.com/fnyeW2oNKZ

— OttoMMAns (@theottommans) November 5, 2017