BKFC 76 results: Jessica Eye wins first fight back from retirement, beats UFC veteran Mariya Agapova
The story of the fight was volume and accuracy with Eye outlanding Agapova by a wide margin as she consistently pressed forward to close the distance and then unloaded with a barrage of punches. When it was over, Eye had clearly done enough to earn the victory with the judges scoring the contest 49-45, 50-44 and 49-45 in her favor as she moves to 1-0 in the BKFC ring.
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'These bruises heal but the evil lives on,' Eye shouted to the Texas crowd. 'That's what you guys came here for. Are you not entertained?'
The flyweights traded body shots to open the fight with Agapova then looked to use her reach at distance while Eye was methodically stalking her across the ring. While she did end up with a cut over her eye from an early exchange, Eye showed a lot of confidence while coming after Agapova while trying to set up a heavy right hand.
Eye continuously looked to get inside while pressing Agapova against the ropes and then unleashing a barrage of punches. A couple of wild exchanges saw both fighters land some solid shots but Eye was landing with better power.
The end of the third round saw Eye finally unleash her biggest succession of punches as she went hard to the body and then back up top to the head just before the bell sounded.
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The crowd was getting a little restless as Eye was constantly pressing forward, pushing Agapova into the ropes and then trying to throw punches on the inside. That inevitably led to the referee breaking them apart and resetting in the center of the ring.
Eye did manage to clip Agapova with a stiff right hand just before the fourth round ended that definitely got her attention.
With two minutes remaining, Eye kept moving forward aggressively when she popped Agapova, who stumbled backwards before hitting the canvas. While Agapova complained that she got shoved rather than knocked down, the referee administered the required count before allowing the action to continue.
Eye went back to the body again with another blistering combination just before the fight came to an end. Overall, Eye threw over 300 strikes during the fight and she connected with more than 200 shots, which was far more than Agapova across the five round fight.
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Following nearly three years out of action, the 38-year-old veteran returned with a win on Saturday and it appears Eye plans to keep going with a new career started as a member of the BKFC roster.
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