Sijara Eubanks’ Blessing in Disguise

Although it might not have seemed like it at the time, Sijara Eubanks’ weight-cut debacle before “The Ultimate Fighter 26” Finale might have been a blessing in disguise.

Sure, Eubanks missed the opportunity to close out an improbable march through the long-running reality show by capturing the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural women’s flyweight title because she was hospitalized one day before the event, but the long-term benefits could be just as valuable. First, the delay of her official Octagon debut allowed Eubanks to further bond and grow with the team she discovered during taping of “The Ultimate Fighter” -- a group headed by renowned coach Mark Henry, who is at the helm of a stable of fighters that includes the likes of Frankie Edgar, Eddie Alvarez and Marlon Moraes.

“Before ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ tryout, I was kind of figuring out where I was gonna go. I wanted to switch camps, but I didn’t know where I was gonna go. When I tried out for ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ I just prayed and kept my energy toward knowing that whatever happened at ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ I would find my new camp and I would find my new coach,” Eubanks told Sherdog.com. “The bond between coach and athlete is immeasurable. I think it’s very valuable, especially in the fight game. We’ve got to really trust our coaches and trust our squad. The first day, I met Mark Henry and Eddie Alvarez, and he introduced me to the rest of the guys and coaches. I didn’t say anything to Mark right away, but I knew the first day in the house, I was like, ‘I’m following these guys wherever they’re at. This is my new squad.’”

Having her initial UFC foray postponed by approximately six months allowed Eubanks to further embed herself within the team.

“I got to bond a little more,” she said. “I got to learn the systems and the way things work around here. I’ve improved exponentially with this team. My striking, my grappling, my overall knowledge of mixed martial arts has really, really improved. I’m grateful for the extra time. I think it’s definitely gonna help me.”

Eubanks will put that theory to the test when she faces Lauren Murphy in a preliminary flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 131 on Friday in Utica, New York. The disastrous weight cut that hospitalized the Camp Springs, Maryland, native before a scheduled bout with Nicco Montano might have discouraged some fighters to stay in the same division. Not Eubanks. In order to perfect her cut, she visited the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. The experience was eye-opening, especially for someone who began her career as a bantamweight.

“I’m supremely confident in this new weight cut,” she said. “I just got a couple tests done and got a lot of data and analytics on my body and how I burn calories and how my conditioning was affected. I learned a lot about my body and a lot about the specific needs nutritionally I have to get down to a proper walk-around weight. I just never walked around at a proper weight for 125. I just always walked around as a 135er. I was walking at [150 to 155 pounds] before ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Getting down 10 pounds to walk around to [140 to 143 pounds] just takes some time.”

That cut required not only a change in diet but a renewed focus on cardio. Eubanks admits that throughout her career she got by without putting in the miles that are necessary to be successful as a combat sports athlete.

“I never ran. I never liked running ever. I avoided running my entire career, and it finally caught up to me,” Eubanks said. “I thought running meant something crazy. They were like ‘No, you just have to add a consistent conditioning program that’s not crazy, just an easy moderate pace, several times a week to keep your body lean.’ I have to keep my body more like a cross-country runner than like a power lifter. I feel fast; I feel conditioned. I feel like a real professional athlete for the first time in my career, and it’s been amazing. Now that I’ve been running, the difference is amazing. I’m kind of kicking myself. If I’d been running three or four years ago, imagine the kind of athlete I’d be today.”

While Eubanks will make her Octagon debut with an official record of 2-2, her “Ultimate Fighter” exhibition wins over more experienced foes Roxanne Modafferi, DeAnna Bennett and Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson make the task of squaring off with Murphy, who owns a 10-3 career mark, seem much less daunting.

“Now that I’m outside the house, it really helped. Because of my low seed, I got to fight the highest seeds in the house. I got to fight three good fighters and get that experience in the cage, getting finishes. Even though it doesn’t go on my record, that’s definitely what I was looking for,” she said. “Now I feel more comfortable in the UFC.”

Since it was not all that long ago that Eubanks was one step away from winning championship gold, she believes an impressive showing in New York could propel her right back into title contention. Montano remains the 125-pound queen, but she has yet to make a defense of her belt, and former bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is the No. 1 contender in waiting. After that, Eubanks sees herself right there in the mix of a wide-open division.

“I think an impressive performance definitely puts me up at the top,” she said. “I was supposed to fight for the title [and] messed up my weight cut. I’m just here to prove that I am a flyweight, and I’m a damn good flyweight.”