Eye gets one more fight, is taking a year

Bantamweight Jessica Eye entered the UFC on a seven-fight win streak. She has gone 1-5 with one No Contest since. It does not sound like an impressive record, but Eye is actually a world-class fighter.

Eye beat Sarah Kaufman via Split Decision in her league debut, but it was changed to a No Contest after she tested positive for the well-known performance enhancing drug marijuana. Then she lost a split decision to Alexis Davis and rebounded with a beatdown of Leslie Smith.

Then she lost unanimous decisions to Miesha Tate, Julianna Pena, and Sara McMann. And in her last fight, she dropped a Split Decision to Bethe Correia at UFC 203 in front of a hometown Cleveland crowd.

Fighters have been cut after losing one fight. Losing four in a row is ordinarily an absolute out, but UFC president Dana White did the right, smart, good thing, and called Eye up with an offer for another chance. He even offered to put her in contact with a noted sports psychologist, who might help get Eye over some issues that have plagued her game in recent fights.

“We start talking about everything and how he feels that I’m just stuck in this funk and he’s seen other fighters go through it,” said Eye to Damon Martin for FOX Sports. “I said ‘if you want to give me another chance, you can. I’m taking a year off. I’m going to train probably after the first of the year. I’m going to hang out, do some cross training, make some other decisions in my life but I don’t plan to come back for a while.'”

“[UFC vice president of talent relations Sean Shelby] said ‘Dana did message me and told me what you talked about and I’m going to keep you on the roster. I’m going to give you another chance.'”

“I fought Alexis Davis and after that fight I was supposed to possibly get Rousey and then I go out, take some time off, and it was like 10 months off and I come out and I fight like an animal in the Leslie Smith fight. Everyone gets to see ‘this girl’s a fighter!’ I had taken that time off and dealt with some of my family stuff and just reset.”

“I win that and it seems like I put all this pressure on myself. I get a new eight-fight contract and then I start fighting the top five girls in the whole world. All these things kind of took my focus and I didn’t see it. That’s why you’re only getting half of me in the cage. I feel like it’s time to hit the reset button.”

“Time for me to not worry about a fight, not worry about a camp. Just go and help my teammates and just workout. If I want to eat clean for 10 days straight and eat bad for 10 days straight, I can do that. I just want to live for a little while to make sure I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing as a fighter. I’m blessed that Sean Shelby and Dana White are giving me one more chance.

“I’m not going out there and getting destroyed by these girls. I’m losing split decisions. They are competitive fights. I realize now no one wants to see a competitive fight in this sport, they want to see a finish. So maybe that’s what I need to spend this year on — learning how to finish.”

“You get 15 minutes of work time or 25 minutes of work time and that’s it. You’re defined by that. You define yourself as a winner and a fighter and it becomes embarrassing when you’re off a loss. I need to realize that no matter what — win, lose or draw — I’m still me. I should still be proud of myself. I created a career for myself.”

“That’s what this year will bring. Me being proud of myself. Me finding myself and then I’ll get one more chance.”