Women’s MMAJessica Eye Claims UFC Denied Financial Help for Gallbladder Surgery
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When Jessica Eye missed weight for her last two fights, many questioned her professionalism and dedication to her craft. No one knew then the serious health concerns she was battling because even Eye didn’t fully grasp the depth of her problem until this past summer.
When the No. 6 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight (No. 9 on Sherdog’s independent rankings) needed her gallbladder removed after discovering it was only nine percent functional, and essentially poisoning her body. The surgery ended up costing $20,000, an expense she claims the UFC is currently unwilling to pony up for.
“Dr. [Jeffrey] Davidson denied me, and that’s the UFC doctor. That’s not the UFC [Performance Institute]. He denied me on getting surgery, which would cost me $20,000 to get done. He denied me and said it was not UFC related. It was kind of heart breaking to hear that,” Eye alleges. “Dana [White] said he would take care of me financially [following her September Instagram post about the situation]. Yet to be compensated for it, but I’m sure it’ll be happening soon. I just want to worry about the fight and getting my health together. But yea, that cost me $20,000. I had went to the PI, and me and Clint [Wattenberg] were kind of stumped on some of things, because I would have a lot of up and down days. Which is what gallstones do. When your gallbladder is going down you can have gallstones. Times where I’d be passing gallstones; I would know it and I would get infections. I’ve struggled with other stomach infections before in my life. So I’m surprised we didn’t look as deep. There’s only one specific scan; where they have to inject you with radioactive stuff; to find out if your gallbladder is fully dead. It takes about two hours and it costs a lot of money.”
In her conversation with Sherdog, “Evil” detailed the long and winding road to her gallbladder diagnosis and the various symptoms that made her realize she had a far more serious problem then she understood. Plus, she spoke on her UFC 257 return fight against Joanne Calderwood.
