Cynthia Calvillo impresses Dana White by defeating Jessica Eye
Cynthia Calvillo made a big statement in her victory in Saturday’s main event. Her performance stood out to several people including UFC president Dana White.
Calvillo (9-1-1) made the best of her UFC flyweight debut, as she picked up a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Jessica Eye. In her win, Calvillo was poised on her feet and used several takedowns to wrestle her way to victory. Following the main event, White praised the former strawweight for her efforts in his post-fight press conference.
“She looked great tonight,” White said. “She fought the perfect fight. I think that (her) standup looked good (and) her ground game looked good. Going into the fifth round, she stood, didn’t sit on the stool, had a strong fifth round. She looked good. (It was) her first five-round fight. Yeah, she looked good.”
Given that Eye recently fought Valentina Shevchenko for the title and that she was ranked No. 1 in the division, Calvillo just put herself into the mix of knocking on the door for a title shot.
“Listen, yeah, if you beat the No. 1 contender,” White said when asked. “Look at Gilbert Burns. It just happened to him. When you beat No. 1? Yeah.”
Calvillo, 32, is continuing to add wins to her resume. She won back-to-back fights over Poliana Botelho and Courtney Casey before fighting to a draw against Marina Rodriguez in December. The win over Eye now makes four straight appearances without a defeat. Her only loss of her career came in an extremely close fight to former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza.
Earlier this morning, Calvillo showed off her battle wounds while thanking her fans in an Instagram posted, in which she also said how happy she to be fighting at 125 pounds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBacSEjFbPA/
“New division, who dis?” Calvillo wrote. “What a freaking time to be alive! Love you guys.”
