A flyweight bout between Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood was heavy on punches, elbows, knees, and kicks from start to finish at UFC 257.
The fighters went at it right away, colliding in a flurry of fists and knees. Eye forced Calderwood against the cage briefly, then returned her there after Calderwood managed to break away and land a few punches in the process. As Eye pushed Calderwood against the cage again, Calderwood began throwing knees while Eye threw punches. After they broke apart, Calderwood landed a few solid kicks, closing the distance multiple times to throw some more knees. Both fighters were aggressive with strikes until the end of the round.
Calderwood started off round two with a big body kick, then she and Eye each hit each other with a couple solid punches to the face. Calderwood then threw a push-kick straight to the center of Eye’s face, then caught a big punch from Eye before taking her to the ground. Eye immediately got back up to her feet, though, and the opponents resumed their back-and-forth brawl on the feet. Eye stayed aggressive and strong with her punches, with Calderwood being persistent with the knees. A spinning elbow attempt from Calderwood created an opening for a takedown from Eye, but although she managed to keep Calderwood down, she wasn’t really able to advance the position or create any significant moments from there before the third and final round.
Calderwood opened the third round with push kicks until Eye forced her against the cage. After some time, though, the referee separated them after being unsatisfied with a lack of action. The fighters continued to brawl, and Eye went for a takedown, resulting in Calderwood sprawling on top of her. In the final thirty seconds of the fight, a knee from Calderwood opened up a cut on Eye’s face, staggering her and opening the opportunity for a few more strikes from Calderwood. Eye tried one more takedown in the last few seconds, but Calderwood sprawled on her and prevented her from doing anything with it.
Calderwood was awarded the unanimous decision by the judges.
