A women’s flyweight bout between Jessica Eye and Cynthia Calvillo is set to headline a UFC Fight Night card on June 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report the Eye vs. Calvillo matchup for the UFC’s June 13 show in Vegas. Of note, it was reported that this fight will be the headliner of the card, which surprised many of the fans who reacted to it on social media.
Breaking: UFC working on Jessica Eye (@jessicaevileye) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (@cyn_calvillo) to headline UFC Fight Night on June 13, per sources. pic.twitter.com/toTauYv3Py
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 23, 2020
Eye (15-7, 1 NC) is currently the No. 1 ranked women’s flyweight in the UFC behind champion Valentina Shevchenko. Eye is coming off of a decision win over Viviane Araujo on the UFC 245 prelims and overall has won four of five fights since moving down to 125lbs. However, that one loss was a devastating head kick KO loss to the champion at UFC 238 last June. Despite that loss, Eye is still the No. 1 contender in the women’s flyweight division, which speaks more about the depth of the weight class.
Calvillo (8-1-1) is currently the No. 10 ranked women’s strawweight in the UFC but she is moving up to 125lbs after struggling to make 115lbs and missing weight on the scale for several fights. Calvillo is 5-1-1 overall in the UFC and is unbeaten in her last three fights, which includes a draw against Marina Rodriguez in her last fight. It should be noted that she has fought at flyweight earlier in her career.
While Eye vs. Calvillo is a sensible matchup and works well as a preliminary card bout, the fact it’s set to headline a Fight Night card has left many fans in shock. Both women are quality fighters but no one would consider either a draw, making it surprising the UFC would choose to headline a card with them. However, perhaps the UFC will use this fight as No. 1 contender’s bout and that’s why it’s set for five rounds.
What do you think about Jessica Eye vs. Cynthia Calvillo headlining a UFC event?