Sijara Eubanks picked up a much needed win at UFC Jacksonville. After losing two straight, the TUF alum got back in the win column with a one-sided decision over Canadian Sarah Moras.
Eubanks (5-4), exiled from flyweight after struggling to make the limit, and now competing at bantamweight, was happy with her performance overall, she told Cageside Press in a post-fight virtual press-scrum following the event. “I thought it was great. I thought it was one of the best performances of my career. I landed everything, I heard good, I pushed hard, I cannot complain.”
With her back to the wall coming in, off two losses in a row, some pressure might be expected. But, Eubanks explained, that wasn’t the case ahead of UFC Jacksonville.
“Zero. None,” she said in regards to any pressure she felt. “My goal was the have fun tonight, that’s it.” It’s something Eubanks told herself throughout fight camp. “I knew if I put all that pressure on me, I wasn’t going to be able to perform. And that’s what I really wanted to get back to. I think I put pressure on in those fights that I lost.”
Instead, the game plan Wednesday was to “come in, do what I do best, which is have fun, box, wrestle, ground n’ pound, it’s in God’s hands after that— we’re just going to have a good time.”
Post-fight, there was a little exchange of words between the fighters, as Moras was getting back to her feet. Eubanks had been dominant, and was still fired up, it seemed.
“I just got a little excited, it’s that adrenaline,” she explained. “I had heard a while back a little clip where she’d said ‘I want to put Sijara in the hospital.’ Maybe it’s some click bait or something. I really hadn’t thought about it, but right at the end, I was like ‘you go to the hospital!'”
Moras appeared caught unaware. “She was like ‘what are you talking about?’ I tried to humble myself right away,” continued Eubanks. “I try to be a humble person, I try to be a good sport, a good winner and a good loser. I apologized to her in cage before they even raised my hand.”
The Moras fight behind her, Eubanks can now focus on putting together a win streak. Of course, in uncertain times, no one knows for sure when they’ll be fighting. The dates and locations of events seem to change by the day. Eubanks preference is “ASAP. Hopefully Fight Island. No names in particular.”
The key for Eubanks is that she wants to fight frequently. “Especially now that I’m back in the win column. I just always have these long gaps. I’ve been in the UFC two or three years now, and I get on average six, seven months between fights. So I’m not even picky about who, I just want to go again soon.”
