Cynthia Calvillo discusses upcoming main event against Jessica Eye
Interview with Cynthia Calvillo above
Cynthia Calvillo’s fight on June 13 will bring a lot of first time experiences for the California native. When she steps foot inside of the Octagon against Jessica Eye, she will be making her UFC flyweight debut as well as fighting in her first ever main event. While both are new territories for her, she’s ready for the challenge of competing in a higher weight class and training for a full 25 minute fight.
“125 [pounds] is where I want to be and where I should be,” Calvillo said in her teleconference Wednesday evening.
“Once I got back into the gym last week, I felt good and I noticed all the other flyweights in the top 10 were getting booked. So I messaged my manager and said that I noticed me and Jessica were the only ones not matched up. I asked him if she had a fight and he said no. So then I asked him if he could ask to try to get the UFC to book us and they came back and said ‘how about a main event in three weeks?’”
Calvillo (8-1-1) previously made a name for herself within the strawweight division, but she has struggled as of late cutting down to 115 pounds by missing weight in two of her previous three fights. Now those failed weight cuts are behind her as she now has a chance to make a name for herself at flyweight.
If Calvillo gets a win over Eye, who is a former title challenger at 125 pounds and is currently ranked No. 1 in the UFC’s women’s flyweight rankings, she’ll move right towards the top of the division. Also not to mention, she has a win over Joanne Calderwood on her record and Calderwood is next in line to fight current flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.
“It definitely puts me up there. Let’s say Valentina and JoJo fight, it’ll be up to the winner to determine how long until they want to fight again,” Calvillo added. “Let’s just say the other girls in contention aren’t able to fight, but I am, of course I can have that match up.”
Like many fighters, Cavillo’s training has been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, she is making the best of current situation.
“It’s been crazy and has definitely been hard. I’m one of those people that if I’m not in the gym working and training hard everyday with my coaches and teammates, then I’m depressed. There’s nothing more that I want to be doing than being on a mat training. It was definitely difficult in the beginning.”
This fight will also be special for Calvillo as she has switched gyms and is now at American Kickboxing Academy.
“So far it’s been great. AKA is in my hometown of San Jose, where I was born and raised. Now it’s time to come back. A lot of the people I’m training with were people that I trained with when I was an amateur and now were all pros so it’s kind of cool to see us all come through.”
