Rivalries: Cynthia Calvillo

Once hailed as a can’t-miss, blue-chip prospect, Cynthia Calvillo’s career has taken a turn for the worse in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division.

The reeling San Jose, California, native will draw her first assignment of 2022 when she faces Nina Nunes in the featured UFC on ESPN 39 prelim this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Calvillo, who turns 35 in a matter of days, enters the Octagon on a troubling three-fight losing streak. She last appeared at UFC Fight Night 197, where she bowed to onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Andrea Lee two rounds into their Nov. 13 pairing.

As Calvillo sets her attention on Nunes at 125 pounds, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped chart her course to this point:

Joanne Wood

Timely takedowns and an opportunistic submission game carried the undefeated Calvillo to a unanimous decision over the Scottish kickboxer in their UFC Fight Night 113 co-main event on July 16, 2017 at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Wood—who missed weight for the match by two pounds—outstruck the Californian but too often wandered into ill-timed peril. Calvillo executed a takedown, advanced to the back and threatened with an armbar in the first round, establishing her superiority in the grappling department. She did so again in the third, where she took down Wood once more, progressed to the back and went to work on a rear-naked choke. Though the final horn denied Calvillo’s shot at a finish, the die had been cast in the minds of the cageside judges. The win pushed her to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the UFC.

Carla Esparza

The former UFC and Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight titleholder turned away the previously unbeaten Calvillo in a UFC 219 women’s strawweight showcase on Dec. 30, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards. Calvillo struck for a takedown inside the first minute, freed herself from an attempted armbar and passed to side control before applying her ground-and-pound, knees to the body included. The two women exchanged liberally in the second round, but Esparza started to turn the tide with two takedowns of her own. She hit the accelerator in the third, where she fired tight punching combinations inside Calvillo’s looping strikes, made a pass at a guillotine and buzzed the Team Alpha Male prospect’s tower with a picturesque left hook.

Marina Rodriguez

Calvillo and the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate fought to a majority draw in the UFC on ESPN 7 co-headliner on Dec. 7, 2019 at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. Judge Chris Lee scored it 29-28 for Rodriguez, while David Braslow and Sal D’Amato saw it even at 28-28. A short-notice replacement for Claudia Gadelha, the undefeated Rodriguez spent much of the first two rounds abusing the Californian with sharp right hands, crushing knees to the body, standing elbows and a variety of kicks. However, Calvillo lured her into Round 3 and made her move. She secured a takedown, tore into Rodriguez with elbows to the body and head, transitioned to full mount and let fly with a brutal sequence of ground-and-pound that almost necessitated a stoppage. Rodriguez survived, left her fate to the judges and settled for a draw.

Jessica Eye

Calvillo announced her arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division with a clear-cut unanimous decision over the former Ring of Combat titleholder in the UFC on ESPN 10 main event on June 13, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. Eye was effective while upright, where she utilized her skills as a counterpuncher and maximized her size and strength advantages. On the ground, it was an entirely different story. Calvillo executed takedowns in the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds, where she wore out the Ohio native with ground-and-pound, guard passes and occasional submission attempts. She also enjoyed extended success on the feet in the latter stages of the match, her quick, active hands providing a nice change of pace while factoring into the outcome.

Jessica Andrade

The Parana Vale Tudo star disposed of Calvillo with punches in the first round of their UFC 266 women’s flyweight feature on Sept. 25, 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The end came 4:54 into Round 1. Andrade showed the Californian no respect. She bullied Calvillo backward with power punches and leg kicks, then cracked her with a combination. Andrade clipped the Californian with a powerful right hook, cut loose with vicious uppercuts and pinned her to the fence. Calvillo turtled into a defensive shell and ate repeated punches without defending herself, prompting referee Herb Dean to act on her behalf with just six seconds remaining in the round. It was the first stoppage loss of the Syndicate MMA rep’s career.