Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, is keeping the assembly line moving at 125 pounds, now that Valentina Shevchenko has disposed of former strawweight titleholder, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Ranked No. 1 in the division is longtime veteran Jessica Eye (14-6, 1 NC), who is the winner of three straight dating back to late 2016, a remarkable turnaround after struggling to find the win column at 135 pounds.
“I think we said that we were going to do a fight with Jessica Eye,” White told reporters after UFC on ESPN+ 1 (via MMA Weekly). “I think Eye is next.”
That decision was not well received by former strawweight Joanna Calderwood, who called for an “Evil” showdown after turning away flyweight up-and-comer Ariane Lipski inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, back on Jan. 19 (recap).
Not happening.
Hey @DRkneevil great win but you need to go work on your cardio first.
— Jessica Eye (@jessicaevileye) January 20, 2019
“I just see excuses,” Calderwood said about Eye’s dismissal. “Our job is to fight and we can be vocal on who we want next but at the end of the day, UFC will come back and tell us who we’re fighting next. I’m trying to be more vocal and I was in the lead up to this fight, I got a lot of hate for it. I felt like why should I not be saying what every one else is this sport is doing, and that’s what they’re getting.”
Shevchenko (16-3) is expected to return to action this spring.