Evans-Smith TKO's Fallon Fox
In the conclusion of the Championship Fighting Alliance women's featherweight tournament, underdog Ashlee Evans-Smith derailed the hype train surrounding transgender fighter Fallon Fox with a third-round TKO stoppage to hand Fox her first professional loss, picking up the win and the CFA women's featherweight championship Saturday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Evans-Smith entered the event as a whopping +425 underdog (meaning a $100 wager would return a $425 profit) to Fox, who was a massive favorite with -675 odds. But the numbers didn't matter once the fight started.
Fox started out strong in the first round, nearly putting Evans-Smith away early, but she survived the early onslaught and turned up the heat as the fight wore on. Evans-Smith brought the fight to Fox during the second round, and eventually took her down and mounted her in the third round where she got the TKO victory at BankUnited Center.
Evans-Smith ends the tournament and Fox's run with an emphatic exclamation point, while also earning $20,000 bonus money for her trouble.
It's the first loss of Fox's career after starting off a perfect 3-0 with three stoppages in those fights. Fox came under scrutiny earlier this year when it was revealed she was a transgender fighter after licensing issues arose about her fighting women while being born as a male. The controversy swirled around Fox for several months, but eventually the firestorm died down and she was allowed to continue with her fight career.
The victory over Fox now moves Evans-Smith's record to 2-0.