Jessica Eye Leaves Longtime Camp Before Perceived UFC Title Shot

Jessica Eye has made a major change ahead of what will be the biggest fight of her mixed martial arts career.

Eye revealed to MMAjunkie Radio that she has left her longtime team, Strong Style MMA, in her native Cleveland, Ohio. Strong Style is also home to former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

Heading into her perceived title shot against UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, it’s a bold move at such a time. But she said she opened up her own gym with one of her friends. So far, it’s going well:

“I decided to part with Strong Style and open my own gym with a friend. It’s been really cool. It’s been really exciting. I’m kind of stepping away from everything and trying new things and I’ve found it to be really successful.”

Her Biggest Fight

UFC President Dana White recently confirmed that Eye was most likely next to challenge ‘Bullet’ for the 125-pound title. Eye had fallen on hard times at bantamweight, losing four fights in a row. But she found a rapid resurgence at flyweight, winning three straight bouts. She said she would like to fight Shevchenko for the title in April, yet may have to wait until June for “Bullet” to be prepared.

Shevchenko recently won the vacant women’s flyweight belt by defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231. Eye defeated Kaitlyn Chookagian at the same event.

Eye was a bit mum on the details of her new gym, including its coaches and training partners. Those are unknown for now, but what is not is her excitement at facing Shevchenko. She said fans were in for a high-level treat when they do face off:

“It’s going to be fun,” Eye said. “They get to see two, high-level females fight and it’s going to be fun. These are two gritty chicks. I’m pumped to actually fight her. It’s cool to be excited about fighting another talented person. It’s makes solving a problem, a puzzle a lot funner.”