UFC Fight Night Saskatoon: Jessica Eye vs Cynthia Calvillo Betting Odds and Predictions

The UFC heads back to its Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 13, 2020, for UFC Fight Night: Eye vs Calvillo.

The headliner of this 10-fight event is a five-round flyweight bout between former flyweight title contender Jessica Eye and former strawweight contender Cynthia Calvillo. Although some say that the main event doesn’t have the star appeal that most headliners possess, this is a fight between two of the toughest female fighters in the promotion and should be just as exciting as the usual headliners that the UFC puts up.

Let’s take a look at that bout and preview the matchup:

Jessica “Evil” Eye

Jessica Eye is the #1 ranked female flyweight contender in the UFC. The 33-year old from Rootstown, Ohio is a former Ring of Combat 130-pound champion who also fought for NAAFS and Bellator before heading to the UFC.

Eye initially fought at bantamweight because the UFC didn’t have a flyweight division yet in 2013. She won just once in seven bouts with one draw before joining the flyweight division in 2018. Eye then won three straight bouts to earn a title shot but she was brutally knocked out by Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 238.

“Evil” stands 5-6 tall with a reach of 66 inches and is an orthodox fighter. She owns a record of 15-7 with three wins by knockout and one via submission. Eye has lost just once in five flyweight bouts in the UFC and she is coming off a unanimous decision win over Vivan Araujo.

She averages 3.79 significant strikes landed per minute with a 38% striking accuracy. Eye gets hit by an average of 3.39 significant strikes per minute and has a 59% striking defense. On the ground, she averages just 0.46 takedowns per 15 minutes and has a 45% takedown accuracy and a 59% takedown defense.

Cynthia Calvillo

Cynthia Calvillo is the 10th ranked female strawweight in the UFC and she is making her flyweight debut in this bout. The 32-year old from San Jose California fought for Global Knockout and LFA before joining the UFC in 2017.

Calvillo has fought at flyweight before but is 5-1-1 as a strawweight in the UFC. However, she has missed weight in two out of her last three bouts and will be fighting at flyweight for the first time inside the octagon.

She stands 5-4 tall with a reach of 64 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance. She has a record of 8-1 with two knockouts and three wins via submission. She is 2-0-1 since suffering her first loss to Carla Esparza. Calvillo is coming off a majority draw in her last bout against Marina Rodriguez at UFC on ESPN 7.

Calvillo lands an average of 4.12 significant strikes per minute with a 43% accuracy. She has a 63% striking defense and gets hit by an average of 3.54 significant strikes per minute. Calvillo completes an average of 1.83 takedowns per 15 minutes and owns a 63% takedown defense.

The Match-Up

Eye bounced back from her disappointing knockout loss to Valentina Shevchenko by outpointing Vivane Araujo last December. Although she missed weight, Eye dominated the bout, landed 100 strikes, and won a clear decision. If you take out her loss to Shevechekno, Eye is having a terrific run at flyweight.

She doesn’t have game-changing punching power but she is an excellent striker who fights aggressively. Eye doesn’t do anything spectacular but her high work rate has enabled her to take 11 out of 16 decisions. Her ground game is questionable but she has been effective enough on her feet to win most of her bouts.

Calvillo is coming off a majority draw in her last bout. However, she landed more significant strikes in that fight and completed more takedowns. Expect her to come out blazing here not only looking for redemption but to make a statement against one of the top flyweights in the business.

Her striking is polished and she is a very good counter puncher. She is also equipped on the ground with wrestling and BJJ background. Calvillo is well-rounded as she mixes takedowns with effective striking and she has produced three submissions in her last five bouts.

Who Wins?

Calvillo is the younger fighter here and she is also more athletic than Eye. I think that she also has more power between the two and that she has the toughness to trade shots with the more experienced Eye. However, I think that Calvillo’s athleticism will be more of a factor if she is able to take the fight to the ground and use her wrestling and takedown abilities.

Eye is a veteran of the sport and she is tough as nails. She doesn’t possess knockout power but is a very active striker who wears out her opponents with her work rate. She is difficult to put away as she has been stopped twice in her seven losses. If you take away her loss to Valentina, she has looked spectacular at this weight division.

Eye has been taken down four times in her last four bouts and she doesn’t want to be in that situation here. She will try to keep this fight on her feet where she can out-land Calvillo. The latter is the more polished striker but Eye is a tough customer who just unloads on her foe.

Calvillo has fought at flyweight before but not in the UFC. There have been some fighters who made successful debuts at a higher weight class but usually, there are some issues encountered with the added weight. This fight could go either way but I’ll go with the more experienced fighter who also has more experience fighting at this weight class.

Prediction: Jessica Eye

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