Julianna Pena vs Jessica Eye added to Oct. 3 UFC show

Jessica Eye, Julianna Pena

Last night the UFC announced that Julianna Pena vs Jessica Eye has been added to UFC 192 Oct. 3 at the Toyota Center in Houston. This is a very quick turnaround for Jessica after losing to Miesha Tate last month. So I have been asked why she gets a quick fight when other fighters have been sitting around for several months. There are a couple of reasons that I will get to in a minute. What the UFC is trying to do is set up future title challengers and they are very high on Julianna. She won TUF 18 and then she blew out her knee. On her return in April, she won over Milana Dudieva by TKO. BTW, Milana has just announced she is pregnant. So we won't see her for a while. So now that Julianna got her feet wet, they want her to fight a ranked fighter. Ronda Rousey's next title defense will be against Miesha Tate in December. Then she will film Mile 22 in Thailand with co-star Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg. They need to set up a title fight upon her return. We have a couple of fights coming up that could set up that next challenger. Amanda Nunes vs Sara McMann is one of those fights. That will be this Saturday in Nashville. The winner of that fight could face the winner of this fight for a title shot. Alexis Davis and Cat Zingano may also be up for a title shot but not until later because both have already had title shots. I'm not a big fan of a losing fighter getting a quick turnaround. Jessica lost that fight for a reason and she hasn't had the time to work on the things that caused that loss. Julianna is a very well rounded and aggressive fighter. If her mind is right, she's very dangerous. If Juliana wins in a decisive way, her stock will go up significantly and get her closer to a title shot. I don't think a win does the same thing for Jessica but a loss could knock her out of the top ten rankings. So why not Sarah Kaufman for this fight? I'm surprised she's not on the upcoming Saskatoon show. I guess it can be chalked up to matchmaker's prerogative and when we're talking about female fighters, physical attractiveness can be part of that prerogative. I know that's not what fans want me to tell them. But it wouldn't surprise me.