Britain's Leon Edwards ended a near two-year lay-off from UFC competition on Saturday night.Unfortunately, his return bout against Belal Muhammad concluded in the most disappointing of circumstances for all concerned.Despite his time away from the Octagon, Edwards managed to win the first round of the pair's main event contest in Las Vegas.However, the action quickly came to a halt early in the second round, when Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye while throwing a kick.Edwards had been warned for an eye poke in the first round, but this second incident was far more serious - and had fight-ending consequences.The strike left Muhammad with a gruesome eye injury. Almost immediately, the American fell to the mat in a mix of both agony and emotion.Referee Herb Dean attempted to calm Muhammad by telling him to "calm down and breathe" as he was attended to by the doctor.

"I can’t see anything," said a distraught Muhammad in response.

The nature of the incident meant it was pretty clear that the fight would not continue. 

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping - who himself suffered a significant eye injury during his own career - called the poke "one of the worst cases I've ever seen" on commentary.

Aside from the physical pain, Muhammad's emotional reaction to the way the bout finished is entirely understandable.

The 22-fight veteran was making his first appearance in a UFC main event this weekend and wanted to use the platform to showcase his skills against a top contender.

Sadly, he never truly got that opportunity. The fight was officially declared a no contest just 18 seconds into round two due to the accidental foul.

Although it was evident that there was no malice behind the poke, Edwards spoke of his deep regret at the way things unfolded in his post-fight interview:

"First of all, I apologised to Belal, I didn’t mean to do that, I went for the cross head kick," Edwards explained. "I went for the crosshead kick, he stepped into it and I really apologise.

"I’d rather a loss than that, you know. I’m heartbroken, I don’t know what to say."

Entering the fight as the number three fighter in the welterweight rankings, Edwards had hoped to secure a showdown with champion Kamaru Usman with a win.

That chance seems to have slipped away following the controversial ending of his clash with Muhammad.

"What now, what do I now?" Edwards wondered aloud. "I went in there focusing on my next chapter to be world champion; just heartbroken. It’s been a long, long year and a half and to come back to that."

Based on recent history, an immediate rematch of Saturday's bout appears the most likely route for both Edwards and Muhammad.

Thankfully, Muhammad revealed on social media after the fight that he had suffered no permanent damage:

"My heart is shattered my first main event ended like that, but God's the best of planners. I'm sorry to the fans and the @ufc," Muhammad wrote on Twitter.

"You deserved a full fight...Alhamdulillah the vision is coming back and no permanent damage to the eye I’ll be back and want to run it back".

After one of the most brutal eye pokes in UFC history, the fact that Muhammad sustained no lasting effects is great news. Hopefully, the second meeting between these two top contenders can be arranged soon.