Jessica Eye Physically and Mentally Ready for Anything Zoila Gurgel Brings to Bellator 83
While success can be a motivator, sometimes it is when things are at their bleakest that people are able to make more strides forward.
For Bellator flyweight Jessica “Evil” Eye, this is very much the case as she’s managed to win five fights in a row thanks in most part to difficulties she’s had in her life and the only loss she’s suffered in her fighting career.
“I’ve had some injuries that have sidelined me a little bit, but it’s kind of taken my training to different levels because I’ve had to change them to compensate for those injuries, but I really think a lot of my momentum has come from my Aisling Daley fight,” said Eye.
“That (loss) weighs heavy in my heart and in my soul and I would never take away from it. A lot of what’s happened to me and the success I’ve had has come because of it.”
Eye’s success has paid off with an opportunity to fight Bellator’s top 125-pound female fighter, Zoila Gurgel, this Friday in Atlantic City, N.J., as part of Bellator 83 on MTV2 and MMAWeekly.com.
“I was so jacked,” said Eye when she was told she’d be facing Gurgel. “I’m not excited to fight Zoila because we had a beef a couple years ago – I don’t really care about that – but everybody was excited because they want to see me fight the best and do well against her.”
Eye told MMAWeekly.com that she feels both her and Gurgel match up very evenly, and it could come down to the intangibles to determine the outcome of their fight.
“I think we’re very similar,” said Eye. “I think that she looks at me to try to pick my game apart, but I think she does that really because she knows I’m just as good as she is and I’m just as well-rounded as she is.
“I definitely don’t think it’s a career-breaking fight for either of us, and both of us know that we’re here to stay in this sport and here to do big things. It’s just a matter of who wants it more and who has prepared more and is ready to capitalize on any opportunity given us.”
With everything that she’s been through of late, this is a huge opportunity for Eye to not only secure her best year fighting yet, but to help provide a foundation for bigger things to come in 2013.
“I fought all top-ranked females this entire year and while it has prepared for me for this moment, I feel like I’ve struggled a lot this year and had a lot of things going on in my life with injuries and stuff like that,” said Eye. “I do think that emotionally I’ve been prepared by life and physically prepared by the fights I’ve taken.
“I’m physically ready and mentally ready for anything.”
Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for all the latest Bellator news and updates, and watch the full Bellator 83 event live Friday night on MMAWeekly.com.
(Photo courtesy of Bellator Fighting Championships)
