The past few weeks have been quite the rollercoaster for Sijara Eubanks.
The outspoken women’s flyweight contender was asked to headline the UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV) event in a 125-pound showdown opposite Valentina Shevchenko, but fan outrage — and this comment from commentator Joe Rogan — convinced the promotion to keep looking.
A few days later, we got Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis.
So not only did “Sarj” lose her main event opportunity, she also lost some respect in the eyes of the “weird” Twitter followers who are loyal to Rogan. Fortunately for both parties, cooler heads prevailed during last weekend’s event in New York.
“He came up to me, he was like, ‘My bad.” I was like, ‘Yeah bro, you didn’t have to do that,’” Eubanks told MMA Fighting. “He was like, ‘I didn’t mean no disrespect.’ It was all good man, it was all love. We squashed our beef, per se. He does have some crazy fans, man. I told him, ‘Your Twitter followers are nuts, they were gonna murder me out there.’ He kinda laughed about it so … it was fun.”
Eubanks was able to remain on the card after accepting a Roxanne Modafferi bout for the FOX Sports 1 “Prelims,” though she once again faced criticism after missing weight. That led to another round of Twitter hate, along with comments like “Sijara Foodbanks.”
Don’t expect her to cry herself to sleep.
“I kinda do poke at fans,” she said. “Yeah, go ahead and boo me. You’re going to tune in to watch me next time. I’m on Twitter like, ‘You people are so fucking weird!’ Then I clap back and they get angrier! This is so weird. I have fun with it. What else do I do? Do I really get mad? Do I sit up all night and fume? No, I don’t have time for that, I’m going to bed.”
The chances of Eubanks getting a title shot are remote, as UFC 230 marked the second time “Sarj” has been unable to hit the flyweight limit. At least this time around she was able to stay out of the hospital, which resulted in a unanimous decision win over the “Happy Warrior.”
For much more on UFC 230 click here.