After spending nearly a year away from competition, Jessica Eye returns to the Octagon and meets an undefeated prospect for her next UFC appearance.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported on Friday that the promotion is finalizing a flyweight fight between Eye and Casey O’Neill for UFC 276, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled as the conclusion of International Fight Week on July 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Additional reporting from Damon Martin and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting revealed verbal agreements are already in place, with contracts expected to be signed soon. O’Neill has confirmed her next fight is in the works, hinting at it on her social media accounts.
Eye aims to snap a three-fight losing streak. ‘Evil’ has dropped unanimous decisions to Cynthia Calvillo, Joanne Wood [née Calderwood] and Jennifer Maia in her most recent outings. The Strong Style MMA product has been booked twice since her loss to Maia, but fights against Andrea Lee and Manon Fiorot were canceled after she was forced to withdraw over illness and injury.
O’Neill is coming off of one of the biggest wins of her career thus far, a split decision over the now-retired Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 271 this past February. ‘King’ started her UFC tenure with three consecutive finishes over Shana Dobson, Lara Procópio and Antonina Shevchenko, the latter of which earned her a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
Eye and O’Neill are ranked at No. 10 and No. 12 in the division, respectively.
UFC 276 is without a headliner at the moment, but that is likely to change in the coming weeks. The only other fight attached to the event also features flyweights, with ex-champion Miesha Tate debuting in the weight class against one-time title challenger Lauren Murphy. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates as they become available.
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