TUF 18 winner Julilanna Pena got another win under her belt in the main card opener at UFC 192, defeating Jessica Eye by unanimous decision.
Round One:
Eye with an early kick and then they exchange aggressively in the pocket with Eye getting the better of that. Pena slips to the mat, but no harm done and she gets back up.
Pena pulls guard and Eye stays down there with her for now. She’s in half guard, but doesn’t stay for long, standing back up and holding on to a guillotine choke as she gets pushed to the cage. eye let’s the submission go and turns Pena into the cage.
Few short punches from Pena and a knee from Eye. And again. Eye applying a lot of pressure here in this clinch. Pena gets just a little space and fires off a few knees to the body and then manages to land a takedown.
Eye muscles her way back up to her feet before Pena can do much with the position. Pena pushes her to the cage, but again Eye is able to reverse that position and landing some knees.
Very nice trip takedown from Eye and she lands in side control with just over a minute to go in the opening round. Hard elbow strikes to the head from Pena. Another one lands and she’s warned by the ref to watch they don’t land to the back of the head. She waits then lands another to the side of the head.
Three more elbows land and she moves to take Eye’s back as the round comes to an end.
Round Two:
Eye moving around and lands a couple of jabs. Pena closes the distance and fires off a barrage of blows. Eye gets that clinch against the cage, but before long they split.
Pena with a head kick attempt and then she pulls guard. Eye on top working from half guard now. She lands a few elbows to the body. Pena trying to get room to work here, but Eye staying solid on top for now.
Now Eye takes Pena’s back. Pena tries to escape, but Eye is trying to set up an arm triangle. Pena defending for now with less than two minutes remaining in the round. Eye lets it go and remains in half-guard.
A minute to go and Pena scrambles to her knees. Another scramble and Eye is looking for a possible choke, but Pena ends up on top. Unfortunately for her there’s an illegal knee to the head by Eye from her back.
That forces a stoppage, Eye ends up getting a point deducted which has big repercussions for this fight if it goes to a decision and for some reason they now get restarted on the feet. Eye lands a good combo just as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Pena coming out aggressively to start the third with punches in close and then lands a takedown. She’s in full guard for now, but slowly tries to transition to side control and Eye is attempting a triangle choke. It doesn’t work out for her and she tries to scramble up, but ends up giving her back to Pena.
Pena goes for a rear-naked choke and cranks on it hard. Eye is super tough and won’t tap, managing to move enough to escape. Two minutes to go and Pena is still on top in half guard now. She lands a few strikes, but Eye gets her back to full guard.
Eye throws up her legs looking for the triangle, but Pena shrugs that off and moves to half. Final 15 seconds of the fight and Pena is attempting a guillotine from half guard, but Eye hangs tough until the final bell.
Decision:
Good, competitive fight here, but it’s Pena who gets the nod from all three judges and would have won even without Eye getting a point deduction for the illegal knee (29-27 x3).
