Jessica Eye spoke to MMAJunkie about comments made by Ronda Rousey regarding why she believes Sara McMann lost their title fight. Rousey said she believes McMann lost because she didn’t want to be the champ as bad as Ronda, and that she wanted to avoid the media because she couldn’t handle the pressure it takes to be champ.
Jessica Eye’s take on the situation is a bit different:
“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.”
“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?”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”