In one of the best performances of her career, Jessica “Evil” Eye earned her first official UFC victory tonight at UFC 180: “Werdum vs Hunt” in Mexico City, Mexico. Eye excelled on the feet en route to a second-round TKO win over Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith when the doctor stopped the bout.
Eye started strong and never let up in tonight’s bantamweight battle. She held a clear edge in speed in the striking exchanges and opened a bad cut on Smith’s cauliflowered ear in round one. Smith’s ear got even worse in round two and the fight was stopped on the advice of the cageside doctor.
Eye (11-2-0, 1 ND) pressed the action right away and she landed a series of punching combinations and two body kicks. A five-punch flurry backed Smith (7-6-1) up, but she answered back with a right hook and a head kick attempt. Eye continued to get the better of the exchanges by landing quick punches to the head and body. She scored with a nice right hand and two lead left hooks, then cut Smith’s left ear with a looping right. The round ended with both women throwing power punches.
Round two began with Eye landing more combinations and the fighters traded knees in the clinch. Eye targeted Smith’s left ear with punches and the cauliflowered portion of the ear split. Referee Herb Dean called for the cageside doctor to check on Smith’s badly damaged ear, which was dangling in grotesque fashion. The injury was deemed to be too severe and the fight was stopped.
Tonight’s victory marked Eye’s first official UFC win. She originally defeated former Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman in her Octagon debut 13 months ago, but the result of the bout was overturned when Eye tested positive for cannabinoids. Smith, who began her UFC career on short notice in April, has dropped two of her three UFC bouts but remains a fan favourite.
Winner: Jessica Eye by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 1:30 of round two. She improves to 11-2-0, 1 ND.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
Super impressive performance by Eye – she has vastly improved in the 10 months since her fight against Alexis Davis. To me, this win vaults Jessica to clear #2 contender, right behind Zingano — and she lays the best claim to be the next to fight for the title in 2015. Brutal girl, extremely talented, and is great looking — and she can sure sell a fight.
I feel very badly for Leslie though. So unfortunate what happened to her ear — but in all honestly, she wasn’t going to beat Jessica last night, and Herb Dean did a superb job in ensuring Smith didn’t take any more damage. Leslie Smith will be back. Dana White called her a “warrior” after the fight and said she’d fight again as soon as her ear healed.
Bravo to both women – they did WMMA proud last night.
Jessica Eye is this athletic. She always was. She is one of the strongest girls in the division, and one of the best strikers.
This was much like her fight against Kaufmann. She also got Alexis Davis worked up on the feet.
I think she’d beat Zingano. Ronda would have a hard time holding her in the clinch. Holly Holm and Germaine de Randaime would give her trouble, though.
Love Leslie Smith. Sorry the fight stopped in such a disturbing fashion.
Ronda will destroy Eye in less than 1/2 a round. Eye looked the same to me as she has looked in all her fights before. She was always one of the two best boxers in that division. And for her to say she was gunna finish Leslie Smith with strikes soon after the stoppage anyway is far reaching. Smith took no damage at all from those punches except for the ear…which was enough. I believe that once the fight goes to the ground she gets beat by Zingano, Carmouche, Tate, McMann, Murphy, and Rousey. …and Kaufman would beat her in a rematch. On top of that she strikes me as retarded as hell. Don’t like her at all. Hope she gets submitted in her next fight. Between her and that overrated blowhard Pena….I cringe. She probably resents the fact that Dana White had zero to say about her after the fight while assuring that Leslie Smith is here to stay
In my humble opinion
..of course
Just so you guys remember who we are talking about here…it took her 3 rounds to decision Angela Magana…a natural 115er. Ais the Bash Daly finished Eye. Ais is on the Tuf 20 show.
There wasn’t a mark on leslie smiths face save the ear…but did you guys see Eye’s face at the post presser?
She could not open her left eye the hematoma was so big. Leslie Smith is as tough or tougher than Tate and that says something. It is hard to put away that girl with strikes. She is a female Diego Sanchez…horrible technique but keeps on coming.
Great comments guys!! Yes I did see Eye’s face at the post fight conference. She walked in holding an ice pack against here left eye and almost as soon as she removed the ice, as she was answering the first question, her eye began to swell, darken noticeably and it soon closed almost entirely. I believe that happened due to a huge elbow Smith landed in Round 2. And yes, Leslie was essentially unmarked except for her ear. Very interesting that DW didn’t mention Eye during the press conference, but did say Smith was a “warrior” and that he “loves that girl.” Then he tweets a picture of Leslie standing between DW and Fertita. I hope the UFC gave Smith some kind of bonus — even only $25K — for how she represented women and their toughness last night.
Honestly, I don’t get the hate. Eye is an exciting fighter.
I do think Ronda will defeat Eye. Just she will be harder to hold in the clinch than all other girls she faced.
Do not forget that Eye is a natural flyweight and has been fighting bigger girls… the top of the division, and has been doing great against the likes of Kaufman and Alexis Davis.
If Alexis Davis couldn’t tap her, I don’t think anyone else in the division will, except for Rousey.
Just my two cents.
Look guys…Eye is probably as good or better boxer than Kaufman. She is definitely a better boxer than Rousey although as far as pure punching power goes, I don’t know. Rousey’s problem is that she hasn’t learned how to move her head away from strikes. No defensive posture whatsoever. But it really doesn’t matter because she can walk right through anything Eye can dish out…throw her to the mat and submit her. She has proven that she has an iron chin. The punches she got hit with in the McMann fight were, I believe, much more powerful than anything I have seen Eye throw. And…by the way…it doesn’t take a whole lot of force to rip a cauliflower ear…it is like ripping cardboard that got wet…then dried…then got wet again…then dried again. They will build that fight…and push…and promote but if Rousey/Eye ever happens, it will end like all the rest….1st round whatever Ronda wants.
Keep the comments coming! War…WMMA!#!
The only fight that might have a question mark attached is Rousey-McMann rematch…if Ronda hangs around that long. Ronda is in this game for one reason and one reason only…money. If the money wasn’t right she would have been long gone. I like Ronda but sometimes she pushes the fact that she is doing this to solidify the presence and attraction that is WMMA. If the money wasn’t right her ‘idealism’ would most assuredly be in question. The question now is…how much money is enough for Ronda to stick around? 10 million…20, 30, 40, 100 million because that final number is not out of reach given her earning potential.
what say you????
So…the reason I can’t stand Eye is that she lies to herself. Sarah Kaufman clearly won the third round of their match and Eye know this…she admitted it yet…the deciding factor that swung the judges in Eyes’ favor was a single judges vote giving Eye the third round. If that judge had not been texting his girlfriend during the round instead of doing his job, Kaufman wins…and Eye knows this. And the world knows this. But Eye is too fucking scared to fight Kaufman again. She knows in the back of her mind that Kaufmans punches have a lot more on them than her own punches. Take a look at her face after one power jab and an overhand right.
Jessica Eye…can you say over fucking rated???