Jessica Eye’s test failure made public shortly after denial on the MMA Hour

The interview with Eye starts at about 1:10:58 into the show. On February 10th’s episode of the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Jessica Eye sat down to talk about, among other things, Bloody Elbow’s reports of her failed drug test at UFC 166. Eye, for her part lashed out at reporters over the claims that she had failed a drug test for pot, before closing her social media accounts. Her appearance on the MMA Hour was more staid, if not exactly clearer as to what she may or may not be denying or have, in fact, done wrong to get her win over Sarah Kaufman changed to a No-Decision. Here was her response when asked, point blank, if she was denying reports of her drug test failure:

Yes, I’m not doing PED’s, I’m not doing anything that I shouldn’t be doing. Yet again, I will continue to say that I took all tests, again, to get my license and will continuously passed. And yet again, I’m not gonna say anything that’s going to be used against me or for people to continuously make allegations against me that I have or have not done. It’s just not gonna work that way. I mean, and you know what, hey, I guess it’s gonna keep people continuousing watching me. They never know what next is going to happen. It’s kinda fun for them. I guess then they’re gonna have to… They can sit on the edge of their seats to see what I test for this next time for February 22. Hey, maybe it’ll keep people paying attention to me, it’ll keep people hating me, and it’ll continuously give me just more fuel to do what I’m supposed to do.

Shortly after this appearance and that, not-quite-a-denial, denial Fox Sports published the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s documentation of Eye’s failed drug test for, you guessed it, marijuana. Or, more specifically in this case, cannabinoids, the active ingredient in cannabis. As you can see, the documents have been signed off on by Eye herself, in direct contradiction to her statements that she’s still unsure of exactly why she’s being punished. (documents via Fox Sports)

It’s a bad place to be in the face of a public consciousness that is shifting to a much softer stance on marijuana and its public use. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that if Eye had come forward with her positive test as soon as news of the overturned fight result broke (why it took 4 months for the public to be notified is another topic altogether) much of the outcry probably would have been around the idea that she was losing a win on her record for something as meaningless as recreational marijuana use.

Unfortunately, by lying about her failed test, right up through the moment of its public reveal, she has not only done a great deal more damage to her public image, but she may in fact have made it more difficult to get licensed. If potential reports that she may be fighting while on other banned medications end up being true, the process for getting approved for future fights may prove to be a much more difficult one. In the end, it’s almost always better for a public figure to get out ahead of controversy and end speculation as quickly as possible. For Eye that may be a lesson hard learned.