Cleveland-based mixed martial artist Jessica “Evil” Eye has had her fair share of struggles during the last two years of her career within the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Despite losses, inconsistent performances and multiple fight cancellations over the last year, Eye has felt the support of her coaches at Strong Style MMA Gym in Independence, which is why she delivered a heartfelt thank you to Marcus Marinelli, Alex Cooper and Joe Delguyd inside The Octagon after a win over Kalindra Faria at UFC Fight Night: St. Louis at Scottrade Center Sunday night.
“The reason I thanked those three men that stand in my corner all the time is because you guys see the positive aspect of me, but they are the gatekeepers of the negativity, and I really beat them up sometimes,” Eye said when speaking to the press after the win.
“It breaks my heart because they’re the most amazing men that I have. I don’t have a family anymore. They’re everything to me, and they’re the ones who made this possible. They’re the ones who made me believe in myself again, and I believe in myself again because of them. You guys get to see the positivity, but unfortunately, they get to see the negative side of me, but they brought it out of me again, and I’m so thankful for that.”
According to FightMetric, Eye outpointed Faria, 53-52, in total strikes, but Faria had a 38-25 edge in significant strikes. However, Eye more than made up the difference with three successful takedowns in four attempts and six tries at a submission.
Faria scored only one takedown and attempted just one submission in the 15-minute fight.
“You guys see me smile all the time, but those guys see me cry,” Eye said. “I think sometimes, they think, ‘(gosh darn) it, Jessica. Stop crying. Get your (stuff) together,’ but it’s them that make me feel the most emotion, and because of that emotion, I’m able to release it, so I’m able to be a little bit tougher. I think seeing my coach tell me right before the fight and seeing that passion come out of his eyes, ‘Joe, thank you for that. Thank you for giving me that passion’ because I felt it. I felt every bit of it.”
Prior to the win over Faria, Eye (12-6) lost four straight bouts, including three unanimous-decision setbacks and one split-decision defeat in her last fight against Bethe Correia in the featured preliminary matchup at UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena in September of 2016.
After starting her career with a 10-1 record, Eye lost five of her seven fights in the UFC with one no contest, but all of the bouts under the banner of the world’s premiere MMA organization ahead of Sunday’s win over Faria were at bantamweight.
Eye’s preferred weight class is flyweight, which has a newly created division within the UFC.
“I put a lot of the work in, but they put in more, way more than I ever can,” Eye said. “They sacrifice their children, their families, their wives with the time away with this fight for me this week and next week, for my wonderful (friend), Stipe Miocic, the champ who will continue to be the champ.
“They’re leaving their families again for two weeks. That’s hard, and the sacrifices that’s getting made for me is something I can’t wait to give back to them one day.”
