Top-ranked strawweight Jessica “Jag” Aguilar made a successful return to action tonight at Bellator 94 in Tampa, Florida, but her victory did not come easily. Aguilar narrowly outpointed submission specialist “Little” Patricia Vidonic in a rematch from the pair’s first fight back in February 2012.

In a second female fight on tonight’s card, Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig rallied back from a tough first round to take a Split Decision victory over bitter rival “Hurricane” Heather Clark. Herrig controlled the action on the ground in the latter half of the fight to earn the close decision win on the scorecards.

Aguilar (15-4-0) secured a Thai clinch in the opening minute and landed knees, then slammed Vidonic (7-5-0) down to the mat. Aguilar landed in side control, but Vidonic did well to fight back to full guard and she was active with submission attempts and short elbow strikes from her back. Aguilar managed to land a handful of punches and elbows late in the round, but she was unable to mount much offence.

Vidonic punched her way into a clinch in round two and Aguilar countered with knees. She circled away and landed a leg kick and a right hook. The fighters clinched again and Vidonic fought off takedown attempts with a knee and an elbow. She scored a takedown of her own and landed punches to the body and elbows. Aguilar postured for an armbar in the final 30 seconds, but Vidonic defended until the bell.

The final round began with another exchange of knees in the clinch. Aguilar eventually swept out Vidonic’s leg and worked from the top on the ground. She landed occasional punches as Vidonic held on and looked to set up a submission. Referee George Ortiz stood the fighters up and both women landed knees to the body in the final minute.

Despite her active guard in round one and strong performance in the middle stanza, only one cageside judge scored the fight for Vidonic. The remaining two sided with Aguilar, who walked away with a razor-thin victory in her first fight since May. Aguilar has won 10 of her past 11 fights. Vidonic has tasted defeat in four of her past five bouts, but on a strong performance in tonight’s rematch.

Winner: Jessica Aguilar by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 15-4-0.

The 115-pound grudge match between Herrig (9-4-0) and Clark (5-4-0) was also a closely-contested affair, but Herrig came on strong as the fight progressed and that proved to be enough to earn the win.

In the opening round, Clark trapped Herrig in a Thai clinch and landed a knee, then used a headlock takedown to get the fight to the mat. She spent the entire duration of the round working from top position in Herrig’s half-guard. For her part, Herrig did well to limit the amount of damage that Clark landed until the second half of the round. Clark looked to set up a Kimura and rained down hard elbow strikes. She continued to pepper Herrig with punches until the bell.

Clark landed knees and quick punches in the second round and Herrig answered back with one-twos and occasional leg kicks. She countered a combination from Clark with a hard left hook and the fighters battled for position against the cage. After breaking apart, Clark closed in again and landed knees. She wobbled Herrig with a combination, but Herrig recovered quickly and attempted a takedown. Clark countered it on the way down, but gave up her back in the process. Herrig closed out the action-packed round by working for rear-naked chokes on the ground.

A side kick to the face scored for Clark early in round three, but Herrig responded with punches and a takedown. She fought off a Kimura attempt and passed to mount. Clark gave up her back and Herrig worked to secure a rear-naked choke. She managed to lock on a modified version with one arm, but Clark prevented her from getting her left hand free. Herrig finally got the choke sunk in, but Clark refused to tap out and wound up on top after a scramble.

As the final bell sounded, Herrig jumped to her feet and let out a scream of joy in the face of Clark, who responded with a backhand punch after the fight had ended. Two judges favoured Herrig’s submission attempts in round two over Clark’s striking and that proved to be the difference maker. Herrig has now won six of her past seven bouts. Clark stated that she suffered a broken arm in round two.

Winner: Felice Herrig by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 9-4-0.

(Photo Credit: Bellator)