For the second week in a row, the women will rule the main event of a UFC card, as Jessica Eye and Cynthia Calvillo will battle it out in an intriguing UFC women’s flyweight fight that could have significant implications on the power rankings in the division. Eye is the no. 1 challenger in the women’s flyweight class, while Calvillo is no. 10. Which between them is going home with a win?
Eye’s decision to get back to the flyweight division has been a successful one, generally speaking, as she has amassed a 4-1 record over her last five fights, all in that division. That lone loss was against Valentina Shevchenko in a title fight in June of last year. Getting knocked out by Shevchenko in championship bout was nothing to be embarrassed about for Eye. If she was going to lose, at least it was against an elite fighter. Eye bounced back from that loss months later by scoring a unanimous decision win over Viviane Araujo during the undercard of UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington. In the upcoming showdown against Calvillo, Eye is looking to use her advantage in experience against an opponent who has yet to fight for a belt. Eye also has a longer reach than Calvillo by two inches and taller by the same measurement. Striking worked to Eye’s favor in his win over Araujo, as she landed 100 strikes to just 69 by her opponent, 91 of which were from a distance. That’s extra impressive on the part of Eye, considering that Araujo had a two-inch reach advantage on her. That could be a telling of how Eye will dominate Calvillo in the stand-up game.
Calvillo is ready to make noise in the flyweight division. She moved up after having trouble making the weight in her past few fights, though, she is riding a three-fight unbeaten run. Since a loss to Carla Esparza in 2017 during the undercard of UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm, Calvillo scored a submission win over Poliana Botelho in 2018 and a unanimous decision victory over Cortney Casey the following year. In her last fight, Calvillo settled for a majority draw decision with Marina Rodriguez in December of 2019. Calvillo controlled most of the fight with her ground and pound game but didn’t do enough to prevent Rodriguez from having her own shining moments. Nevertheless,. Calvillo did lots of damage on the ground where she unleashed 46 of her 112 strikes (Rodriguez only had 61 strikes) and took down her opponent to the mat three times while showing great defense by not allowing herself to be taken down. Calvillo’s ground game is a big threat to Eye, who was brought down to the canvas by Araujo twice.
