Jessica Eye is open to several challenges going forward, and that seems to include Paige VanZant as well. Eye appeared on Bare Knuckle Bowker following her debut victory in gloveless combat at BKFC Texas. On June 21st, the former UFC title challenger secured a unanimous decision victory over Mariya Agapova at BKFC 76.
The question of who and what is next always persists in combat sports media, with VanZant being one of the more popular names out there on the landscape. While VanZant has been predominantly focusing on Power Slap and Misfits Boxing as of late (with an indicated desire to want to compete in Dirty Boxing Championship at some point), the former UFC veteran has also had multiple BKFC fights, with a remaining fight left on her contract there.
When asked about potential next opponents out there who are getting her attention and if Paige VanZant is someone who could be a future adversary, at the 12:59 mark in the embedded interview below, Eye said,
“Yeah, we’ve spoken. Like we’ve had conversations, but I really think right now, nobody’s on my radar. Like if one of these girls is like hey, let’s go fight, let’s go fight. Like let’s go put on a show. That’s what we do. We don’t got to make emotion behind it. We don’t got to hate each other. Like we’re fighters, we fight. Like we don’t have to have beef. Why can’t we just be two bada**es putting on? So we’ll see. I mean someone might want to fight me. We’ll see.”
Jessica Eye and Paige VanZant’s history together
Jessica Eye and Paige VanZant have a level of connectivity to one another beyond the fact that they have both fought inside the UFC’s octagon as well as BKFC’s squared circle. In fact, Eye vs. VanZant was previously planned in the UFC for an October 2017 pay-per-view card. The two were booked for a flyweight fight at UFC 216: Ferguson vs. Lee before a back injury sustained by VanZant scrapped the contest outright.
While Eye is currently 1-0 in BKFC, VanZant has yet to garner a victory in bare-knuckle with prior losses to current BKFC strawweight champion Britain Hart and former UFC rival Rachael Ostovich.
