UFC 203 Results: Bethe Correia defeats Jessica Eye split-decision

A key women’s bantamweight bout between Jessica Eye (11-6 MMA) and Bethe Correia (10-2 MMA) served as the featured fight of tonight’s UFC 203 prelims in Cleveland, Ohio.

Round one begins and Eye lands a big right hand to start. Correia lands back-to-back inside leg kicks. Eye connects with a low kick but misses with a right. Bethe fires back and scores with a crisp right hand. Eye lands a nice right hand. Bethe throws a kick but Jessica catches it and lands a nice counter punch. Jessica is applying the pressure here. She comes forward with a combo and then presses Correia against the cage. Bethe breaks free but looks tentative. Eye with an inside leg kick that lands. Bethe misses with a right hand. Eye presses forward and lands a nice combination. Bethe ducks under a punch and presses Eye against the cage. The Brazilian begins working some short knees against the fence. Eye lands a kick upstairs. Round one comes to an end.

Round two begins and Eye starts things off with a leg kick and then a kick to the body. Correia fires back with a kick to the body of her own. She lands a big right hook on Jessica. Eye eats the shot and presses forward. She lands a nice jab. Bethe replies with a leg kick. Correia misses with a big right hand. She lands a left. Jessica misses with a front kick. Bethe is applying the pressure this round. She lands a leg kick and then a left jab. Big shots from both women land. Bethe is bleeding from the bridge of her nose. Eye tries to go upstairs with a kick but Bethe blocks the attempt. Jessica is now bleeding from underneath her right eye. Bethe lands a crisp jab. Eye responds with a big combination. Bethe eats it and presses forward. Eye lands a nice kick to the body of Correia. Bethe shoots in and misses with a takedown attempt. Bethe misses with a big right but lands a leg kick. Eye fires back with a right hand as round two comes to an end.

Round three begins and Bethe immediately comes forward with pressure. She lands an early leg kick. Eye respond with a low kick of her own. Both ladies trade leg kicks. Bethe lands another leg kick. Jessica comes forward and lands a nice left hand. Eye is doing a good job of circling away. She lands a leg kick but then eats a big right hand from Bethe. Eye is bleeding out of her mouth now. Jessica lands a punch to the body of Bethe. Correia lands a crisp left hand and then an inside leg kick. Bethe comes forward and lands a decent combination. Eye is pawing with the jab but Bethe is able to land a big right hand over the top. 90 seconds remain in the fight. Correia is going to have to do something here. She is chasing Eye around the cage. Bethe lands two nice left hands. She is taunting Eye telling her to engage. Jessica continues to circle away. Bethe chases her down and clinches her up against the cage. A nice elbow lands for Eye. Bethe lands a punch inside.