Odd news coming out of Texas, as it has been announced that the UFC 166 bout between Jessica Eye and Sarah Kaufman has been changed to a “no decision.” The bout originally ended in a moderately controversial split decision favoring Eye.
The story came from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and was first brought to light by Sherdog.com. The TDLR gave no reason for the move.
The bout was a hard-fought striking battle that saw both fighters wear the other down. While it seemed as though Kaufman edged out Eye, the Bellator import wound up getting the nod from the judges (the scores read 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28).
This is a strange hiccup in the thin UFC women’s division. Entering UFC 166, the fight had serious title ramifications, with Kaufman being a former Strikeforce champion while Eye defeated Bellator women’s strawweight champion Zoila Gurgel in 2012. Even with the less-than-decisive nature of her victory, Eye was within a fight or two of challenging for the women’s 135-pound belt.
It’s difficult to guess why the TDLR would take such action. Nothing strange or illegal happened in the cage, and the fight did not end in a controversial stoppage a la Jessamyn Duke vs. Miriam Nakamoto, which likely means something outside the cage prompted the move.
Jessica Eye is yet to react to the news, but Sarah Kaufman made her feelings clear on Twitter:
A BIG MORNING! Texas commission just overturned the result of me vs Eye to a No Decision! Not my win, but not an undeserved loss either…
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 1, 2014
Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available, and stay right here as I bring you updates.
Update:
Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter broke some updates on Twitter. You can check out all his tweets here.
What this indicates is that the decision likely was overturned due to something other than poor judging.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) February 1, 2014
The next TDLR meeting agenda has nothing regarding Kaufman/Eye, either. So this was an administrative decision all the way.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) February 1, 2014
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com