Fighter almost lost her left ear in a fight

MEXICO CITY -- Jessica Eye and Leslie Smith engaged in a spirited slugfest for the better part of the first round, until a right hand by Eye landed squarely on Smith's left ear in the waning seconds of the round on the preliminary card at UFC 180 Saturday in Mexico City Arena.

It split Smith's ear open, sending blood pouring out and covering the side of her face. In between rounds, doctors took a long time to look at the ear and opted to allow Smith to continue.

But not long after the second began, the fighters clinched and Eye then connected with a couple of short rights from close range that opened it again. After another Eye right, referee Herb Dean called time to have the doctors examine it again when the ear was flapping down.

When it was shown on the gigantic video board in the arena, the crowd let out a loud "Ewww!"

After an examination, Dean stopped it on the advice of the ringside physicians. Smith angrily protested, but Dean had no choice but to stop it at 1:30 of the second, giving Eye the TKO victory in the women's bantamweight bout.

Smith was competitive and landing good shots of her own, but the risk to her health was too great to allow the fight to go forward.

"When I connected and saw her ear blow up, that became my main target," Eye said. "I was going to keep hitting it until they stopped the fight or it fell off. My goal is to be the first girl in the UFC to get a knockout win. I know I’ll do it. Now I’ve climbed another rung on the ladder, and I’ll look around and see what my options are, but 'Im almost to the top."