Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Jessica Eye vs Leslie Smith

Here's the match video for Jessica Eye vs Leslie Smith from last night's UFC show in Mexico City. This is one of those fights that is not for the squeamish. If you can't stand the sight of blood, don't watch it. The main reason Jessica lost her last fight to Alexis Davis is she wasn't aggressive enough. She acknowledged that it was a missed opportunity and she would never allow that to happen again. Opportunity is what Leslie Smith is all about. She did well as a late replacement losing to Sarah Kaufman and then won by TKO over Jessamyn Duke. Jessica looked great in round one. She was quicker than I had seen her fight over the last couple of years. Leslie couldn't keep up with her. The key blow in the fight was a right cross to Leslie's ear with a minute left in the round. Her ear burst and there was blood all over the place. Like a lot of fighters, Leslie has cauliflower ears. It's an occupational hazard. We don't see this sort of thing often but it does happen. I thought they should have stopped the fight between rounds because the ear was only going to get worse and the fight would have to be stopped anyway. The ear was a target that Jessica was going to go after. And she should go after it. She's trying to win the fight. Not surprisingly, ref Herb Dean stopped the fight about a minute into round two. And the ringside doctor advised him to stop the fight. Leslie said in Spanish that she wanted to continue. But she admitted afterwards she didn't know how bad the ear looked. The last thing the UFC needed was Leslie Smith's ear laying on the mat. And that could have happened. One who can identify with Leslie's problem is veteran WWE wrestler Mick Foley. Foley lost an ear while working a WCW European tour in the early 90s. Foley declared that Leslie is his favourite fighter and he tweeted her a picture of himself after he lost his ear. So Leslie may have lost the fight but I think she gained a lot of respect for her willingness to continue. And Jessica got a big win. I'd like to see her face Jessica Andrade in Brazil. That could be fight of the night. Enjoy the video!