Jessica Eye is currently ranked #6 in the UFC’s Women’s Bantamweight division. Eye was born in Rootstown, Ohio, and now fights out of Strong Style Fight Team in Independence, Ohio.
Overcoming adversity is nothing new to the Ohio native; she was involved in a motor vehicle accident at 16 years-old that left her with a broken back and bed-ridden for three months. Instead of giving up, she used the accident to drive her to be successful.
Jessica split her early pro MMA career between NAAFS and Bellator FC before coming to the UFC. Eye will be facing Leslie Smith in her next fight at UFC 180 in Mexico City.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jessica and talk about her upcoming fight. For full audio interview click here.
Aaron Robbins: Jessica thanks for taking some time for me. How are things going?
Jessica Eye: “I’m fantastic, it’s Friday and it’s actually nice weather in Ohio. I’m trying to get everything set up for Mexico and get all the loose ends tied up.”
AR: How much more active training do you have before you’ll slow down for the fight in Mexico?
JE: “Oh I’ll go all the way up until the week of the fight. We will even train hard while we are there. I’m in a really unique situation right now because I haven’t fought since February. I was hoping that the UFC was going to call me back in June, so I have literally just been on it like 100% like I had a fight tomorrow. My diet is on point, so I was constantly texting Dana (White) telling him that I could be ready on a week’s notice. I could fight next Friday if I had the opportunity. I could be on weight and ready to fight without changing my diet or killing myself.”
AR: So you aren’t suffering from the injury bug that has been weaving its way through the UFC?
JE: “It’s funny you should say that because, what MMA fighter isn’t injured? We all have our unique aches and pains, but no, for some reason there is a rainbow and a pretty little sunshine beam on me. It’s time for me to show people who I am, and what I’m capable of.”
AR: Give us your thoughts on your fight with Alexis Davis, and why you believe it didn’t go your way.
JE: “Oh man, there were so many things, and I never discredit anybody, but with Alexis I did have myself winning the fight. Did I have myself winning by a hair? Yes I do. I feel like I just didn’t do enough to a make it look like I won. I didn’t do quite enough to show I was the winner. Unfortunately take-downs in the UFC weigh entirely too much. If you look at the judge’s score card they had me losing the third round. I won the third round. She tried to take me down three times, and I stuffed the attempts. I landed more punches and more kicks than she did. I think the judges saw the second round and for some reason went into the third feeling that I had already lost that fight. What hurt me the most is that I know I didn’t do everything that I could’ve to win that fight. I paid for that loss more mentally than any way else.”
AR: What are you planning to do to make sure the results are different in your next fight against Leslie Smith?
JE: “I’ve never been a defensive fighter, and let’s face it the first two females that I went up against in the UFC were two previous champions. They were both top contenders and had fought at 135 for years. My first two fights were against top competition. I didn’t back down to either one of them, and I will never back down to an opponent, whether it be Ronda (Rousey), or Cat Zingano, or anybody. I am not a defensive fighter. I think everybody saw that against (Sarah) Kaufman and Alexis. I was the fighter pushing the pace; I landed most of the combinations.
“I plan on going in there aggressive and with the right mind-set. This whole year has been about growing up. It’s been about being mentally prepared and not let things weigh on my mind and affect my skill set. I’m just going to capitalize on the opportunities given to me in the fight. I always use this as my way of thinking now. When I fought Zoila Gurgel no one thought I was going to win. They thought she was going to go in there and kick the crap out of me. She was going to push me around. Everybody thought I was a nobody, and wondered how I could challenge somebody of her stature at that point in my career. When I went into that fight I was ready for whatever came at me. I didn’t have a specific game plan. I decided I was going to roll with what happened, and I ended up landing a solid left-hook. When she tried to stand up I felt how she was moving and I trusted my instincts and in 58 seconds I was out of that cage.
“I plan to let the fight go however it has to, but I would really like to show the fans how much better my hands have gotten. I also want to show them that I am not just a stand-up fighter. I have a very significant ground game. I just failed to show that against Alexis. I’m going to be the aggressor in every way against Leslie.
“Ronda Rousey wins fights because she is very aggressive. She may not be the most technical in every area, but she wins on aggression. That’s what gets these girls is that aggressiveness, they get scared of it. I think that’s how she (Rousey) wins, and that’s how I’ve survived my career. Since I started back in 2007 I’ve always had that mind-set, but it’s almost like I lost it when I came to the UFC.
“When I came to the UFC I worried about all the wrong things. I worried about opinions, and if what I was doing looked good. I worried about what everybody else was thinking, and I forgot about me. I forgot about what made me successful; what got me into Bellator, and ultimately led me to the UFC. It’s time to reignite that female, and show everybody.”
AR: You sound very confident, and I’m looking forward to seeing that in the cage. Does it concern you at all that the card for UFC 180 has changed so drastically due to injuries?
JE: “No, not at all. I don’t matter to them if I’m not on the card, so it doesn’t matter to me who is on the card. My teammates matter to me. If one of my teammates was supposed to be on a card and got injured that might affect me a little bit more.”
AR: Speaking of teammates, one of yours, Stipe Miocic, has a pretty big opportunity coming up. You guys seem to get along really well. Any thoughts on his fight with JDS?
JE: “We came to the gym within like a month of each other from opposite ends of the country. We are like brother and sister. We are the captains of our teams, and we are lucky to have each other. We have grown a lot together. We have a running bet on who is going to get a title first. I love that people are underestimating him. He is going to shock everybody.”
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