Leslie Smith's ear blew up into a bloody mess in front of Fox Sports fans over the weekend during mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Champ preliminaries in Mexico City, causing her fight with Jessica Eye to be stopped in a TKO.
Smith suffers from cauliflower ear and in the first round of Saturday's fight at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico Eye slammed a hard right hand to Smith's left ear,
according to The Sporting News. The punch ripped open Smith's ear and sent blood flying from the fighter.
Fox Sports reported that while doctors let her continue into the second round, referee Herb Dean stepped in and stopped things again. Doctors reexamined Smith and ended the fight, to her protests, according to Fox.
Eye told Fox Sports that she saw Smith's ear as her path to victory.
"When I connected and saw her ear blow up, that became my main target," Eye told Fox Sports. "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 I'm almost to the top.”
Even though Smith bitterly protested the decision to end the fight, she admitted in a statement that she should have protected the ear after it was injured,
according the blog MMAMania.com.
"I saw some pictures afterward and I appreciate the doctors looking out for me. I guess," Smith said in a statement, according to MMAMania.com. "I should've adjusted to protect my ear before the doctors had to stop it. … Thank you to my team and my coaches at El Niño Training Center for getting me ready. Thank you to all the fight fans. I'll do better next time."
Now with a record of 11-2 with one no contest, Eye could be in line for a shot at the bantamweight title bout with Ronda Rousey in July, according to Fox Sports.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.