Jessica Eye disagrees with Rousey on fighters not being ready for title shot

UFC women’s bantamweight Jessica Eye doesn’t buy in to champ Ronda Rousey‘s explanation for why she beat Sara McMann.

For Eye (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), there’s no correlation between losing a title fight and lacking the desire to win it.

“Maybe (they weren’t) ready to fight, but that doesn’t mean that they (don’t) have all the tools, that they’re a great speaker, a great person, a huge advocate for the sport,” she told MMAjunkie. “Just because you don’t win a fight doesn’t mean you’re not technically ready for it. There’s other aspects to it.”

According to Rousey, it’s those other aspects that may have sunk McMann (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) even before she stepped into the cage at this past February’s UFC 170 to vie for the title. Speaking about her championship run, Rousey said McMann’s low profile leading into the fight was the reflection of an inability to handle the intense pressure that comes along with holding the belt.

Eye, though, said Rousey couldn’t possibly make that kind of judgement.

“I don’t think anybody’s given the right as a male or female to even say that, because none of us know each other on a personal level,” Eye said. “How can you make a statement like that when you don’t know if someone’s ready or not?”

Eye, 27, certainly is ready to get back into the cage after a rough year. In her most recent outing, she dropped a split decision to Alexis Davis at UFC 170. This past fall, she tested positive for marijuana and had a win over Sarah Kaufman overturned. Despite these setbacks, she remains confident in her abilities.

“I’m a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “Just because I’ve had a rough year doesn’t mean I don’t have more fights in my contract that I can’t prove myself.”

And Eye thinks Davis (16-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is more than ready for a fight Saturday against Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in the co-headliner of UFC 175 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Davis is as high as a 9-to-1 underdog in betting lines, but Eye thinks the public is underestimating the Canadian submission specialist.

“I know that when Alexis gives her a lot harder time than she’s expecting, it just makes me look that much better,” she said. “So I’m hoping for a little bit more of a war. I think people are underestimating Alexis. I didn’t realize when we got on the ground that she was as strong she was, and she sort of neutralized me. With a world-class jiu-jitsu game, it’s going to match up well stylistically with Ronda.”

At the moment, Eye remains without an opponent and added she’s open to fighting anyone. Although she has yet to receive word on when she’ll be back, she believes she’ll be an even greater threat to the division with more time to prepare.

And no one can tell her she’s not ready to be champion.

“I think it’s kind of a hard statement to make,” she said. “I think a champion can make that statement only because it’s their title and they’re holding it.”

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