Preview: UFC 210 ‘Cormier vs. Johnson 2’

Women’s Strawweights

Cynthia Calvillo (4-0) vs. Pearl Gonzalez (6-1)

THE MATCHUP: With the reported departure of Paige VanZant, Calvillo stands as the most prominent female prospect at Team Alpha Male. Following an easy first-round submission in her UFC debut, she is poised to make waves in the strawweight division. Joining the UFC to challenge her is Gonzalez, a scrappy kickboxer with an exciting, scramble-heavy ground game.

Gonzalez’s striking practically screams “muay Thai.” She keeps an upright stance, relies heavily on her powerful kicks and is not afraid to sit down on stiff, straight punches. Without the benefit of good head movement, that stance does leave her susceptible to straight punches, and Gonzalez frequently finds herself in scrappy exchanges on the feet. Like so many other current female fighters, Gonzalez rarely attempts any takedowns besides head-and-arm throws. Still, she is always game when the fight goes to the ground. As on the feet, Gonzalez does not show much in the way of preemptive defense on the mat. She tends to get tied up in submissions on a regular basis but always manages to scramble free, often turning the threat into an advantage by passing or landing opportunistic strikes. She may find herself in more trouble than she can handle, if she expects to tangle with Calvillo on the ground.

Calvillo is an efficient and effective wrestler, and she scrambles as well as you might expect from a Team Alpha Male fighter. Unlike Gonzalez, Calvillo’s scrambles are usually predicated on good control. She rarely gets put into a bad position on the ground and rarely gains a good position without quickly improving it. Calvillo has some solid ground-and-pound of her own, but in her UFC debut, she showed off an excellent back take game, which very soon yielded a perfect rear-naked choke. Calvillo’s striking looks a little wonky, but she does move her head and her feet, usually working off of a dipping jab. This allows her to thwart aggressive striking while disguising her level-change takedowns. Calvillo has some snap in her hands, but being an inexperienced striker she is also prone to pushing and poking with her punches when her feet get out of position. Calvillo will need to watch out for the high kicks of Gonzalez: She nearly slipped right into one in her last fight. Then again, she seems to welcome a kick attack if it means the opportunity to score a takedown.

THE ODDS: Calvillo (-260), Gonzalez (+215)

THE PICK: Gonzalez is dangerous. She throws efficient, powerful strikes from a variety of angles, and she will likely get the better of the striking exchanges if Calvillo allows it. However, Calvillo’s wrestling will most likely turn this into a grappling match before long. Gonzalez is creative and clever on the ground, but she frequently finds herself fighting out of submissions and dominant positions. Calvillo should be able to hold onto those dominant positions better than any of Gonzalez’s previous opponents, and that should be enough to get her the win. The pick is Calvillo by second-round submission.

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