Former flyweight title challenger Jessica Eye returned to the octagon at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Not under the circumstances she likely hoped for, however. Eye, who fell to Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 238 in June, was looking to bounce back from that crushing head kick loss. However, a bad miss at the scales — Eye came in a full five pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit — had already dogged her heading into her bout against Brazil’s Viviane Araujo at the T-Mobile Arena.
Round 1: Eye seems to possess the striking advantage early in this fight — but Araujo is right there with her wrestling and takedowns. As Daniel Cormier as picked up on, Jessica Eye has embraced throws everything into her right-handed strikes and as a result, is easy to takedown. Almost on queue Araujo lands a takedown and controls Eye for about a minute of the round, though it was the result of a missed kick.
Caught! ❌@ViviAraujoMMA #UFC245 pic.twitter.com/1WtkqOtDvd
— UFC (@ufc) December 14, 2019
Eye had success on the feet, but it’s possible the judges saw that round for Araujo given she did technically land more fights as well as a takedown.
Round 2: Eye charges forward and engages Araujo and sticks her before backing away. For the next three minutes, Jessica fights a one-sided kickboxing match and Araujo attempts to figure out the puzzle that Eye is presenting her.
Araujo goes for a takedown as Eye attempts a deep sprawl to avoid it — but Araujo had a much lower position and with her power was able to secure the takedown. Eye isn’t down for long and manages to scramble back to her feet. Eye starts finding a home for the big right hook she tried to land earlier.
Round 3: Araujo opens up with a big strike — she knows she needs this third round to secure the victory. Viviane demonstrates superior footwork when she disengages, but it seems to be absent when she attempts set-ups and combinations.
This one will go to the official scorecards.
Official Result: Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araújo via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
