Las Vegas, NV — Jessica Eye is excited for the next chapter in her life.
Fighting professionally for over a decade, Eye, a former UFC women’s flyweight title challenger, retired in the octagon following a loss to Maycee Barber at UFC 276. Now, Eye is looking ahead to what comes next.
“Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye doesn’t end in the UFC octagon. Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye finds her way in other directions, and I’m ready to embrace that,” she said following the fight, addressing the media in her final post-fight press conference.
The longtime UFC fighter, who entered the promotion in 2013 as a bantamweight, became emotional when asked how she wanted to be remembered.
“I’m always going to be one of the hardest working women in the room, going to be one of the toughest working women in the room, and that I just always came to be a gamer. I’m a true fighter, I’m a true fighter through and through,” Eye replied, tearing up. “I never finished fights the way other did, but I was a Hillbilly girl from Cleveland, Ohio that was never going to make it this far. And here I am, retiring in the UFC, and I’m proud of myself.”
“Where I come from, people don’t make it this far,” Eye continued. She added a message for those watching, no matter where they were in the world, saying that “if they believe in themselves, that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish. Self-belief is better than social disapproval and you go get it, you fight your fight, no matter what it is.”
As for what comes next, Eye (15-11, 1NC) is looking to pro wrestling for an opportunity, having tried out in the past. That seemed to be a theme on the night, with two fighters (Jessica-Rose Clark and Israel Adesanya) walking out to entrance music made famous by the WWE.
“I’ve always wanted to dabble in wrestling, in pro wrestling. I want to be the female Undertaker, I want to ride a motorcycle down to the octagon and DDT somebody, I’d love to do that,” Eye said. “I tried out a couple years ago during COVID and I ended up making it, and you know, suffered a lot of health issues. I lost my gall bladder, found out about the parasites.” But now that things are looking better, Eye appears ready to give it another shot. “AEW, WWE, let’s go, Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye is ready!”
Watch the full UFC 276 post-fight press conference with Jessica Eye above. More coverage from the event can be found below.