This was supposed to be Sijara Eubanks’ name in bright lights between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City.
The flyweight was supposed to headline UFC 230 by facing Valentina Shevchenko at Madison Square Garden. Instead, a combination of a company adjustment and last-second fireworks from Derrick Lewis in UFC 229 relegated Eubanks to the prelims and “The Black Beast” into the main event, as he’ll face Daniel Cormier with the heavyweight title on the line.
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That has “SarJ” yearning to take out all her frustrations on Roxanne Modafferi, who was named her opponent for the card, after the UFC decided last month to reserve Shevchenko-Joanna Jedrzejczyk for a co-main event in UFC 231 on Dec. 8.
“I might let out some extra frustrations on Roxanne. Why not?” Eubanks told Sporting News on Thursday during the UFC 230 media day, ahead of her fight Saturday night. “But the most important thing is staying focused and sticking to your game plan and being smart out there and not getting overconfident. Overconfidence kills a lot of fighters, so I’m going to stay steady, I’m going to stay sharp. But if it opens up, I’m going to open up. I’m going to open up on anybody they lock me in there with, but why not throw a few extra mustard on it for Roxanne?”
Eubanks said this before failing to make weight Friday at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, coming in at 127.2 pounds — missing the flyweight cut by 1.2 pounds in disappointing fashion. Eubanks will additionally be fined 20 percent of her purse just for the fight to take place Saturday night.
She responded to the disappointment by simply shrugging it off later on Friday morning.
🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️
— Sijara SarJ Eubanks (@SarJnCharge) November 2, 2018
This isn’t the first time that Eubanks has had trouble with the scale. Last December, her weight cut left her hospitalized and she had to withdraw from her proposed fight with Nicco Montano for the inaugural UFC women’s 125-pound title.
Not making weight now could jeopardize Eubanks’s chances to land a title shot in the near future and if that pans out to fruition, she’d have no one to blame, but herself.
Eubanks publicly reprimanded UFC president Dana White last month, when he removed her from the UFC 230 main event, as she tweeted: “This is my life you’re playing with.”
In hindsight, the promotion seems to have made the proper decision.
Despite the weight setback, “SarJ” could still follow through delivering on something else — an impressive, convincing victory Saturday night.
On Thursday, prior to weighing in, she told SN that her goal against Modafferi is to “really prove how violent I could be.”
Well, she’s about to at least get the chance to make that right.
