Jessica Eye is the first female ultimate fighter to be suspended for using a banned substance, in her case marijuana. The bantamweight failed a drug test after defeating Sarah Kaufman on Oct. 19 in Texas.
The punishment meted out by the UFC on Jan. 22 was stern: a one-year probational suspension and a $1,875 fine, plus her victory over Kaufman was overturned to a no-decision. Eye's record is 10-1 MMA and 1-0 UFC.
Another bantamweight, Rhonda Rousey (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), supports Eye. "Honestly I feel like weed is not a performance-enhancing drug at all," says the champion fighter. "We are tested for it for entirely political reasons. The athletic commission is there to make sure we compete fairly and they are testing us for something that has nothing to do with athletic competition. It’s actually an invasion of privacy."
