Crowd left stunned after bare knuckle fighter kisses opponent during face off

Former UFC fighter Mariya Apagova kissed her opponent Jessica Eye during their BKFC 76 pre-fight face off.

Eye, a 27-fight MMA veteran, is making her bare-knuckle debut against fellow octagon veteran Agapova in Fort Worth, Texas, this evening.

Former UFC title contender Eye retired from competition back in 2022 after suffering her fourth consecutive defeat, but is set to take on Apagova in a bare knuckle bout.

And during their face off Apagova planted a non-consensual kiss on the lips of her opponent, that saw a stunned Eye retort with: “That was f***ing weird.”

After the incident Apagova vented her frustration on Instagram.

"So now that I've got to bleach my lips from those nasty f*cking lips that touched me, I mean, ew, ew," Eye said in her Instagram story. "It's f*cking weird. I mean, we're fighters.

“We're supposed to face off like that. But you don't kiss me, weirdo. You're weird. It ain't going to take me out of my game. It's just going to make me beat your ass more."

The No.1 ranked Tony Soto headlines the evening against unranked Ben ‘The Bomber’ Bonner in a non-title lightweight clash.

Due to visa issues, Franco Tenaglia was unable to travel to the United States and defend his BKFC Lightweight World Title against Soto, which was the previously announced main event.

While it may not be a title fight Soto will have hoped for at the end of 2024, it’s a chance for Soto to cement his status as a top lightweight challenger.

Bonner most recently dispatched Lewis Keen in a first round stoppage that went viral.