UFC on Fox 16: 5 Fights for Jessica Eye
Jessica Eye had her momentum halted by Miesha Tate during their fight at UFC on Fox 16 on Saturday. The loss has pushed her down the ladder within the women’s bantamweight division, but there is still value in booking her in important matches.
These five fight suggestions would keep her active and potentially on the short list for contenders to face Ronda Rousey in the future.
Cat Zingano
1 of 5
Cat Zingano is another fighter who has been shoved down the rankings after her 14-second defeat at the hands of Rousey in February. Pitting her against Eye would set up a very interesting contest between two aggressive women with contrasting styles.
Eye tends to use her boxing to establish range and pelt her opponent with punches. Even before Tate was able to drop her in the first round, Eye landed multiple shots to her opponent’s face.
Against Zingano, she would face an opponent who uses a more diverse striking game and is even more effective in the clinch. Zingano also has a solid wrestling game that she uses to ground her opponents as needed.
This would be a key fight for both women to determine who deserves a place in the upper echelon of the division.
Holly Holm
2 of 5
Holly Holm is an interesting figure in the women’s bantamweight division. The former boxing star has transitioned nicely into the world of mixed martial arts and remains undefeated at this time.
Still, she is reluctant to call for that title shot. Booking Holm against Eye would come at the right point in time to see if she’s prepared to face the best that this group has to offer.
Holm has taken to the kicking aspect of MMA and added it into her game. When coupled with her footwork, she controls the range by keeping her opponents away while landing her kicks.
Eye is a very aggressive fighter, but the size difference—Eye is 5'6" and Holm is 5'8"—would make it difficult for her to land with her boxing-first style of fighting. In what would be a mostly striking affair, it would be interesting to see who would be able to come out on top in this fight.
Sara McMann
3 of 5
Sara McMann is the No. 4-ranked fighter in the bantamweight division. She’s set to face Amanda Nunes at UFC Fight Night 73 in August.
However, a win would not immediately place her at the top of the list to face Rousey for a second time. She’s also been defeated by Tate in a recent bout, which pushes her even farther back down the line.
Fighting Eye would come at a vital point for both fighters. Since they have failed in bids against the highest-ranked women in their division, this fight would keep them active while allowing other contenders to make their push.
Against Eye, McMann would have to find a way to get this fight to the floor. The latter has shown power in her striking game, but she doesn’t have the ability to land combinations at the same pace as Eye. The advantage would go to whichever fighter could establish their game plan first.
Julianna Pena
4 of 5
Julianna Pena was sidelined for nearly two years after she suffered a devastating knee injury. She came back to the sport this past April and dominated Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 63.
As the winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to feature women, Pena has the potential to become a star for the UFC.
Still, she needs to be tested by the best fighters in the division. Against Eye, she would have to get this fight down to the floor very quickly. She has shown an aggression with her grappling that allows her to maintain position and finish fights in a violent nature.
Eye has solid takedown defense and the ability to strike at a high level. This is the exact type of fight that would help establish both of these women in the division.
Sarah Kaufman
5 of 5
Eye won by split decision over the former Strikeforce fighter back at UFC 166. However, the fight would be changed to a no-contest because Eye failed a drug test.
What was already a controversial victory became that much more muddled with the revelation that Eye’s win would be taken away. Putting these two against each other again would solve that problem and keep them both active within the top tier of the division.
The FightMetric report shows just how close this fight was. Kaufman would land 87 of 214 significant strikes compared to 65 of 209 for Eye.
Both fighters switched up their point of attack and landed blows to nearly every part of their opponent’s body. Still, Eye did enough to take the victory in the judges’ eyes. Now that it has been changed to a no-contest, allowing these two women to fight again would clear up the picture.
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
