WOMEN OF ACTION
Jessica Eye
“DURING FIGHT WEEK I SAW MYSELF IN THE MIRROR, AND I WAS LIKE, ‘WHO IS THIS GIRL?’”
UFC FEMALE FLYWEIGHT FIGHTER
A string of losses nearly cost Jessica Eye her spot in the UFC, until a change in weight class and mindset revitalized her career and turned her into a force.
LOSING THREE fights in a row is the unofficial Mendoza Line of the UFC. Only a few special fighters have been allowed to stay with the organization after four consecutive losses, so when UFC president Dana White called Jessica Eye the Monday after her fourth loss back in 2016, she expected the worst.
“I was like, ‘You guys are going to cut me, aren’t you?’ He said, ‘No, but I want you to take some time off and get your mind right,’ ” Eye says. “My dad had died in July. I was dealing with a lot. I thought I could push through that. But I wasn’t fully me on that fight day.”
The UFC is filled with athletes who fight well, but White has a soft spot for those rare specimens who have combat coursing through
