The only women’s bout on the UFC 180 card featured rough action, and a very rough if somewhat unusual ending, as Jessica Eye defeated Leslie Smith after Smith’s ear was nearly torn off of her head in the second round.
Eye came out hard in the first round, blasting with right hands, but also combinations and pressure. When Smith would throw, Eye was all but guaranteed to respond, mixing up her attacks as Smith moved and covered up. Smith, however, wasn’t overwhelmed. While she covered up under Eye’s strong attacks, Smith stayed in the pocket, throwing combinations of her own. Eye stayed on top of Smith the full round, even drawing blood on Smith’s left ear as she able to strike more and more at her range.
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Between rounds, the doctors looked at Smith’s ear, which had been burst open from lingering cauliflower ear. The fight was allowed to continue.
In the second frame, the two opened up by battling each other in the clinch, where Smith was able to land a cracking elbow over the top. Smith turned the pressure on early after her cauliflower ear burst between rounds, but Eye was happy to stick and move from the outside.
Yet, Smith’s ear popped open again and leaked a huge amount of deep red blood. Referee Herb Dean temporarily halted the action and had the ringside physician inspect the wound. Despite Smith’s protests, the bout was called to a halt.
The end came officially at 1:30 of round 2.
(Update: Added photo of Smith’s ear. Thanks to Zombie Prophet for the photo)