Sarah Kaufman vs Jessica Eye likely for UFC 166 in Houston

Jessica Eye signs her UFC contract at First Energy Stadium in Cleveland

After her Bellator release was announced last week, I said that I expected Jessica "Evil" Eye to sign with the UFC sooner rather than later. Jessica's signing was announced on last night's episode of UFC Tonight. They haven't announced it yet but Jessica should face Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166 Oct. 19 at the Toyota Center in Houston. The match wasn't announced last night because the Texas athletic commission is notorious for dragging their heels when approving show dates. Once the show is announced, the UFC will announce the matches. Sarah Kaufman was supposed to face Sara McMann on the Aug. 28 show in Milwaukee. After Sara was forced to back out due to injury, the UFC didn't cancel the fight at first. Despite the usual pointless speculation about who on the UFC roster could take the fight, it was obvious to me that the UFC would recruit a new fighter. And keep in mind they can't use anyone who is on The Ultimate Fighter because the show hasn't aired yet. The one fighter the UFC was interested in was Leslie Smith who lost a close decision to Sarah Kaufman on the April Invicta show. Plenty of observers thought Leslie was jobbed by a poor judges decision. Apparently the UFC promised Leslie a contract if she won that fight. But she didn't lose decisively and they should have signed her at the time. So now Leslie is set to challenge Barb Honchak for the Invicta 125lb title. I think that's a bigger match for her. Someone said that Leslie is under contract to Invicta. Their policy is they won't prevent fighters from going to the UFC. Once Leslie decided to stay in Invicta, the UFC started talking to Jessica. They had to postpone Sarah's Aug. 28 fight. Fans were upset. I was asked about it on Twitter and I said they have an opponent but the fight needs to be rescheduled. At that point, I was sure that Jessica was the opponent. So you might ask how this came together so quickly for Jessica. It's been in the works for a while. Bellator actually decided to release all contracted female fighters in March. But they chose not to acknowledge that until Felice Herrig signed with Invicta last week. They had no choice but to acknowledge the releases. Already I am seeing fan complaints that the UFC has signed another undersized 125lb fighter to fight at 135. Jessica says she has to cut a lot of weight to get to 125 and she thinks 135 will be easier for her. It may be a better weight for her. And it would be silly for her to not sign with the UFC over ten pounds. I don't think she is undersized. She is taller than Sarah Kaufman. I think it will be a good fight. Both fighters like to punch but Jessica has other weapons in her arsenal. Remember the standing choke that put Zoila Gurgel to sleep? Jessica is a great gal and I think this is well deserved. In addition to her fighting talent, she loves talking to fans and is a great role model for young girls. She takes that very seriously. The picture is Jessica Eye signing her UFC contract at First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns. She posted the pic on Instagram. Jessica is a Cleveland native.