An MMA fighter who twice gouged her opponent's eye during a bout apologized and said it was 'unintentional'

• Priscila Cachoeira could be seen on video gouging her opponent's eye Saturday.
• It happened twice, but Cachoeira said it was "unintentional" and has apologized.

Priscilla Cachoeira, nicknamed "Zombie Girl," has apologized for what she called "unintentional" eye-gouging during a recent 129-pound catchweight loss to Gillian Robertson.

It all happened Saturday, in the very first match of the 14-bout UFC 269 card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Robertson won the bout in the last second of the first round because of a rear-naked choke submission, yet moments before she locked in the fight-finishing move, Cachoeira could be seen thumbing Robertson's eye.

It looked like Cachoeira tried the illegal move twice.

Speaking to MMA Fighting this week, the 33-year-old Brazilian said it was all an accident.

"It wasn't my intention to [gouge] her eye when she was on my back, I didn't know it was going in the direction of her eye," said Cachoeira.

"My intention was to go for her neck and push it. That was my intention, but I was desperate, almost snoring, and it's a matter of survival, right? I want to get it off. But it wasn't my intention to hit her eyes. Never."

Cachoeira continued: "I'm a professional and I've already apologized to her in person and via Instagram, and she was super cool. Critics will come, right? There's no other way. I'll wait for the dust to settle and work to come back stronger.

"I apologize once again for what happened. It won't happen again. It was a matter of survival, right? But I didn't know I was gouging her eyes. She was on my back, how would I know?"

Defeat saw Cachoeira's pro MMA record fall to 10 wins (six knockouts and four decisions) against four losses. All four of those losses have taken place in her last six fights, since she joined the UFC.

This means her record in the market-leading combat sports promotion is two wins against four losses.