UFC Odds: Little to Choose Between Jessica Eye, Cynthia Calvillo in Saturday’s Main Event
Posted on: June 13, 2020, 01:00h.
Last updated on: June 12, 2020, 11:45h.
Jessica Eye and Cynthia Calvillo might both enter the main event at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas this Saturday feeling like they should be the favorite in their women’s flyweight matchup.
Eye and Calvillo are both fetching -110 odds at William Hill, while some sportsbooks have installed each of the two as the favorite.
Eye, Calvillo Excited to Take Main Event Slot
The unique circumstances of the fight make it difficult to handicap. Calvillo (8-1-1) is making her first appearance as a flyweight, moving up from the strawweight ranks after having trouble making weight in recent bouts. Eye (15-7) has emerged as the No. 1 contender in the UFC strawweight division. But that’s as much by default as anything else: while she has had success in the division, she – like everyone else – is no match for flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Many fans and observers have ranked the Eye vs. Calvillo clash as one of the weaker main events in recent UFC history. But Eye says that she’s amped-up to take center stage a week after Amanda Nunes dominated Felicia Spencer in the UFC 250 main event.
I just think it’s awesome that we have two weeks in a row where women are main-eventing,” Eye told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s such an evolution in the world. Women are just as much of a draw as the men, and I think it’s just cool.”
Calvillo sees the fight as a chance to establish herself in the flyweight division. She says that fighting at 125 pounds makes more sense for her if she wants to have a successful MMA career.
UFC Odds (Via William Hill)
- Cynthia Calvillo (-110) vs. Jessica Eye (-110)
- Karl Roberson (+180) vs. Marvin Vettori (-220)
- Merab Dvalishvili (-650) vs. Gustavo Lopez (+475)
- Andre Fili (-220) vs. Charles Jourdain (+180)
- Jordan Espinosa (-165) vs. Mark De La Rosa (+140)
“I’ll go down back to 115 for the right fight. But I just think that for my longevity as a professional athlete, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to continue killing myself at strawweight,” Calvillo told MMA Junkie. “My body has changed a lot since then, and it is very difficult for me to make that weight.”
A former bantamweight, Eye often physically bullies her opponents at flyweight, and she figures to have a significant size advantage on Saturday as well. Calvillo’s most likely path to victory is to get the fight on the ground, where her superior wrestling could win rounds.
Vettori Looks to Dominate Co-Main Event
In the co-main event, Marvin Vettori takes on Karl Roberson in what should be a heated fight. Roberson failed to make weight for a scheduled bout with Vettori in May. While both men said they would fight at a catchweight instead, medical officials ruled Robertson medically ineligible to compete.
The two then found themselves in a hotel confrontation on the day they had expected to fight. While the beef will inevitably bring extra emotion into the fight, Vettori says it won’t distract him from his game plan.
You’ll see a lot of action, but I’m not stupid,” Vettori told MMA Junkie. “At the end of the day, you have to think, the worst thing you can do to him is to beat him and walk away with a dominant, super beautiful-fashioned win. That’s it. That’s what I’m going to do.”
William Hill has posted Vettori as a -220 favorite over Roberson (+180) in the middleweight clash.
The UFC is holding Saturday’s event at the company’s Apex facility in Las Vegas. The Apex will also host a June 27 card before the UFC turns to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi for its July slate of events.
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