BKFC’s Mariya Agapova stunned onlookers and her opponent Jessica Eye with an unexpected kiss during their ceremonial weigh-in face-off ahead of BKFC 76 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The tense face off confrontation took an unusual turn when a smiling Agapova leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Eye during their staredown. Eye immediately pushed Agapova away, visibly disturbed by the uninvited gesture.
“That’s so weird,” Eye could be heard saying in footage of the incident. “So f*cking weird.”
When questioned about her actions, Agapova offered a brief and puzzling explanation: “She just came too close.”
The moment adds another layer of tension to a matchup between two boxers desperately seeking to reverse their fortunes. Both competitors enter the bare-knuckle boxing ring looking to snap significant losing streaks in their combat sports careers.
Agapova, formerly competing in the UFC’s flyweight division, arrives at BKFC winless in her past six contests across multiple combat sports disciplines including MMA, boxing, and grappling. The Kazakhstan native is hoping a transition to bare-knuckle competition might revitalize her career.
Eye brings her own challenges to the ring. The one-time UFC title challenger hasn’t tasted victory in her last six outings, all in MMA competition. Her last appearance came in a loss to Maycee Barber at UFC 276 in July 2022, which marked the end of her UFC career.
The unexpected kiss has generated significant buzz heading into Saturday’s event, which features a lightweight main event between Ben Bonner and Tony Soto. The co-main event will showcase former UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski making his bare-knuckle boxing debut against Josh Copeland.
BKFC 76 continues the promotion’s trend of signing former UFC talent looking for new opportunities in the growing bare-knuckle boxing scene. Whether the antics will translate into an in-ring confrontation remains to be seen, but the unexpected weigh-in moment has certainly increased interest in the Agapova-Eye matchup.
