Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, walked into United Center in Chicago, Ill., a massive betting favorite over Jessica Eye, who cobbled together a three-fight win streak after steering out of an awful 1-5-1 skid from 2013-2016.
Clearly, her return to 125 pounds was good for her mixed martial arts (MMA) career, but not nearly good enough to topple one of the very best female fighters alive today. Indeed, Shevchenko — as predicted — utterly dominated Eye en route to one of the most devastating high kick knockout victories in recent memory.
Shevchenko got things on her terms from the jump, drilling Eye with hard kick to the body and then planting her on the canvas with a textbook takedown. Shevchenko was able to quickly secure full mount, but Eye was able to trap her left leg, preventing her from stepping over. As a result, Eye was eventually able to get Shevchenko into full guard and began to wall walk her way back to her feet. Shevchenko, though, used a body lock to slam Eye back to the floor. She was able to pin Eye into a crucifix position, then locked in a tight kimura, but she ultimately ran out of time as the round came to a close.
Shevchenko started the second stanza off with another hard kick to the body, then stepped back and absolutely demolished Eye with a head kick that knocked her unconscious before she even hit the canvas. It was so devastating that Eye’s body was twitching on the floor — she was unconscious for way too long … scary long. Thankfully, she eventually regained consciousness and was able to get on a stool. It was a very tense moment, though, as it seemed like forever before Eye was able to come back to life — she even hugged Shevchenko before leaving the cage.
The good news is it seems like Eye will be okay. Meanwhile, Shevchenko continues to be an absolute monster at 125 pounds.
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