A pair of former women’s flyweight title challengers will try to get back on track this summer.
[autotag]Jessica Eye[/autotag] (15-9 MMA, 5-8 UFC) is set to take on [autotag]Jennifer Maia[/autotag] (18-7-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at a UFC show set for July 10. No venue or location has been announced.
MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup with a person with knowledge of the booking following an initial report from MMA Fighting.
After a rough 1-5 start to her UFC tenure at bantamweight, Eye dropped to flyweight and won three straight against Kalinda Faria, Jessica-Rose Clark and Katlyn Chookagian to earn a shot at champion Valentina Shevchenko.
But at UFC 238 in June 2019, Shevchenko landed a bonus-winning head kick early in the second round that put Eye out cold.
After that setback, Eye beat Viviane Araujo in a fight in which she missed weight. She missed the mark on the scale a second straight time in a June 2020 loss to Cynthia Calvillo. And at UFC 257. in January, Eye lost a decision to Joanne Calderwood.
Maia is coming off a loss to Shevchenko, as well. At UFC 255 this past November, the champ outworked her with a trio of 49-46. scorecards.
Maia earned her title shot on the strength of three wins in four fights. After back-to-back decisions over Alexis Davis and Roxanne Modafferi, Maia lost a decision to Chookagian. But she bounced back with a submission of Calderwood in August 2020, and that was enough to get her shot at Maia.
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