UFC 166 results and photos: Jessica Eye takes split call from Sarah Kaufman

HOUSTON – After an entertaining back-and-forth scrap, Jessica Eye squeaked out a split call against fellow UFC newcomer Sarah Kaufman.

Two of three judges gave Eye the nod by scores of 29-28; another judge dissented with a 29-28 call for Kaufman.

The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 166 event at Toyota Center in Houston. It aired on FOX Sports 1 after additional prelims on Facebook and ahead of the pay-per-view main card.

Boos were audible after the judges’ decision, which prompted a boisterous celebration from Eye and visible frustration from Kaufman.

Stats for the fight favored Kaufman, who landed 41 percent of her significant strikes to Eye’s 31 percent. Kaufman had clear leads in the second and third round, as well.

Eye, who moved up to 135 pounds for her octagon debut, had early success with a fast jab and was dominant in the clinch, using dirty boxing to score points against Kaufman.

But Kaufman, a former Strikeforce champion charged back in the second, landing consistently with an overhand right and dominating in the clinch.

Still, Eye’s handiwork was evident early in the fight, as Kaufman’s left eye began to swell. Eye, however, was rocked by one of Kaufman’s right hands in the third and looked to be in serious trouble. But she survived and utilized a fast jab to keep Kaufman at bay.

By the end of the fight, both sported swollen eyes.

“I feel unbelievable,” Eye said. “People say that it’s an amazing feeling. I can’t even describe how I feel right now. I think I did great the first two rounds. I think I stopped and let her get the third round. I dropped my hands and let her get that round. I hate it. I knew better than that, and will do better next time, but I feel great.”

“I’m a little disappointed because I thought the fight went my way,” Kaufman said. “The first round was close, but I felt I started to pull away in the second and tried to finish her in the third when I could see I had wobbled her. We put on a great fight for the fans and I see this as a small bump in the road on my goal to hopefully become the UFC champion.”

With her first UFC win, Eye (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) improved her current winning streak to eight fights while Kaufman (16-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is 1-2 in her past three appearances.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 166 results include:

• Jessica Eye def. Sarah Kaufman via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• K.J. Noons def. George Sotiropoulos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Adlan Amagov def. T.J. Waldburger via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:45
• Tony Ferguson def. Mike Rio via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 1:52
• Andre Fili def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:53
• Kyoji Horiguchi def. Dustin Pague via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:51

For complete coverage of UFC 166, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Houston.