Jessica Eye still interested in Paige VanZant after breaking skid at UFC Fight Night 124

ST. LOUIS – Jessica Eye resorted to her grappling to earn her first victory since November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 124.

After getting stunned by a Kalindra Faria (18-7-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) head kick in the first round of their strawweight bout on Sunday, Eye (12-6 MMA, 2-5 UFC) opted to implement a grappling-heavy strategy for the remainder of the bout. It paid off, and she won a narrow split decision to snap a forgettable four-fight losing skid.

It had been an emotional run for Eye since she last got her hand raised. She’s dealt with personal tragedy, injuries, fight cancellations and more, but said she’s always done her best to keep her spirits as high as possible.

The hard times came to an end in her FS1-televised bout against Faria at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, though, and as relieving as it is to finally be victorious again, “Evil” said returning to her comfort zone in the 125-pound division was as important as anything.

“I don’t even know if it’s necessary just back in the win column, but back at flyweight,” Eye told MMAjunkie. “It’s been a long time. I put on some weight I probably didn’t need. Now I’m lower weight and everything just felt a little bit different. I don’t feel like there was ring rust, but just the jitters of being in there was a little bit different. It’s been probably 16, 17 months since I was in there, and at flyweight. I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed with feeling right now. I don’t know if I want to cry, be happy … I keep biting through my damn lip.”

It wasn’t all easygoing for Eye in the bout. She appeared to be in serious danger courtesy of Faria’s head kick, but managed to regain her wits and get back in the fight. Eye said a hard hit if often needed to “light the fire,” and once her’s was on, she attacked her opponent in an area she knew she could win.

“I knew she had gotten a couple hits in there,” Eye said. “But, let’s face it: There’s more than just striking that wins fights. I felt like that was the time I had to do some submission attempts, I needed to use my wrestling. I worked so much on my wrestling over the past year-and-a-half.”

After spending her entire UFC career in the bantamweight division, Eye was one of the fighters on the roster pleading for a flyweight class. It took some time, but finally the UFC introduced the division in late 2017. Now Eye feels she can perform at her best, and although she doesn’t regard her performance against Faria as that, she hopes it will come out in her next fight.

Who will that be against, though? Eye said she’s not sure, but there’s still interest in a matchup with Paige VanZant, who she was supposed to fight at UFC 216 in October.

“We’ll see what happens,” Eye said. “There was the back-and-forth with the Paige thing. I just want to see what’s next for myself. The flyweight division is still developing. I think we’re going to see more girls settle into this division, and I can’t wait. We’ll just see.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 124, check out the UFC Events section of the site.