Preview: UFC Fight Night on ESPN - Evil Eye vs Calvillo

 Preview: UFC Fight Night – Evil Eye vs Calvillo

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The UFC is back at it again this weekend as they are keeping the fist and elbows flying with another fight card from Las Vegas.

 

UFC Fight Night on ESPN will be headlined once again by the ladies with a Women’s Flyweight bout between Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye (15-7 with three KOs), and Cynthia Calvillo (8-1 with three subs).  Both fighters are looking to make a statement as an impressive victory by either one can have them chopping at the heels of challenging for a title shot.

The UFC women’s flyweight division is a young one. It was created in 2017 as the promotion added the 125 lbs division to go with their women’s featherweight (145 lb), bantamweight (135 lb), and strawweight (115 lb) divisions. The first champion Nicco Montano(4-3), was crowned after The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Series concluded as the show was used to introduce the division.

With the new division now in place, female fighters are no longer having to choose between fighting at 115lbs or 135lbs. In the combat sports world, 20lbs is a ton of weight.

The division, as it stands now, has one of the more dominant champions on the UFC roster in Valentina Shevchenko (19-3, 6 KO’s, and 7 SUBS) ruling over it with three successful title defenses already under her belt.

 

This matchup between Eye and Calvillo could be the chance for one fighter to get another shot at redemption while the other an opportunity to show the hype is real and they are to be taken seriously within the division.

 

For Jessica Eye, her road in the UFC has been one of many ups and downs, but through it all, here she stands about to headline a UFC card. The 33-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, started her career at 10-1 before making her UFC debut in 2013 at UFC 166.

Eye had to move up a weight class (125 lbs to 135 lbs) due to the UFC not having the flyweight division in its ranks at the time. Initially, her debut fight with the promotion was a win via decision. Still, it was overturned into a no-contest after she tested positive for marijuana (which is no longer tested for).

She would go 1-5 in her next six fights. Despite the losses, Eye maintained a solid fanbase due to her in-your-face fighting style. It’s a division in need of top talent, and she was fighting out of her natural weight division, which had always been at 125 lbs.

In the majority of her bouts, she was the smaller fighter. But even in a higher weight class, Eye showed her hand speed, her ability to put combos together, and regularly apply pressure, which made her fun to watch. In 2016 after her UFC 203 loss (her fourth in a row), Eye would finally get the chance to change divisions and go down to her more natural weight as the UFC  brought in the Women’s Flyweights.

With the change, Eye won three straight bouts in 2018, earning her a number one contenders ranking. Before her crack at the title, she decided to change camps from Strong Style Fight Team in Ohio to Xtreme Couture MMA in Las Vegas. She even moved from Ohio to Vegas full time.

Even though she came up short against Shevchenko (lost via second-round KO), Eye would bounce back with a victory in December of 2019 and be looking for another win to get another go around with the champion. Eye feels she knows where she messed up and, if given another chance, can right her wrongs and be the one to dethrone the titleholder.

But to do that, she first will need to get past one tough newcomer in the division.

 

Stepping across from Eye in the octagon will be Cynthia Calvillo, a 32 year old fighter out of San Jose, Ca. Calvillo is making her 125 lbs debut as she was formally competing at 115 lbs.

 

The weight cut was too much for the fighter as she missed weight in two previous bouts, after a switch in camps from Sacramento based Team Alpha Male to the San Jose based American Kickboxing Academy. She also decided it would be best to utilize her size in a lower division to fight at a weight that is more comfortable and would allow her not to have to drain her body so much to make weight.

Even though she has missed weight before, Calvillo is an exciting fighter to see in the cage as she is an aggressive come forward grappler who isn’t afraid to let the fist fly.

She has high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu base style, so she looks to get inside, secure the takedown, and look to make her opponent tap as evident by her three wins by submission. She won her first three bouts in the promotion and seemed to be on her way to a title shot, but a loss to former strawweight champion Carla Esparza and a failed test derailed those plans.

Coming back nearly a year later, after serving her suspension, she would win her return bout but missed weight. She would go on to win her next fight and draw in her next match, but she missed weight once again.

Finally, deciding to move up a division, Calvillo is looking to continue her winning ways and move up to the flyweight division quickly in hopes of a title shot. A new camp, a new division, same hunger, and drive, she certainly has the makings to thrive and show that she’s a future challenger.

Both ladies have something to prove. Eye wants to show that she is still a top contender and should get another chance at redemption sooner rather than later. Calvillo, on the other hand, whats to show that she’s here to stay and prove that there’s a new name to be on the lookout for at 125 lbs. A win for either would undoubtedly put them in line for the title, but a loss won’t necessarily derail them either.

 

One is a mainstay in the division who will continue to remain in the division top 5 while the other is a newcomer, so a lost wouldn’t burry her. Defeat is never ideal for a fighter but this is a case, it wouldn’t be the end of the line for either participant. Given both like to come forward and push the pace, look for Saturdays main event to be a fun one to watch on ESPN.

 

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-Kalani Lua – Franchise Sports Media

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