Jessica Eye suffered her fourth consecutive loss in the UFC last month against Bethe Correia at UFC 203. And by the UFC’s trend, it normally means that she’d be in danger of being cut from the roster.
UFC bosses Dana White and Sean Shelby, however, made an exception for “Evil” Eye. In an interview with FOX Sports, the number 13-ranked women’s bantamweight fighter also revealed that White even connected her to a sports psychologist who could help her deal with the mental aspect of the fight game.
Instead of jumping right back in, Eye decided to take a lengthy hiatus first.
“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,” Eye said. “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.’
“[Sean] 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.'”
Eye says the yearlong break could serve as the much-needed reset button for her, before she grinds it out once again when she gets back in competition mode.
“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.”