Cynthia Calvillo and Nina Nunes face off on Saturday in a women’s flyweight showdown at UFC on ESPN 39 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Cynthia Calvillo comes into this fight with a 9-4-1 record overall and she has lost three fights in a row. In Calvillo’s last fight against Andrea Lee in November of 2021 and it was after the second round that the fight was stopped and she lost by by knockout. Calvillo is averaging 4.27 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.10 significant strikes per minute. Calvillo is averaging 1.75 takedowns every 15 minutes and she is successful on 43 percent of her takedown attempts. She also stops 73 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts. She is also averaging 1.0 submission attempts every 15 minutes.
On the other side of this matchup is Nina Nunes who sits with a 10-7 record overall and after four straight wins she has lost two straight. Nunes last start came against Mackenzie Dern in April of 2021 and it was late in the first round that she lost by submission attempt. Nunes is averaging 4.64 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.50 significant strikes per minute. Nunes is averaging 0.28 takedowns every 15 minutes and she is successful on 40 percent of her takedown attempts. She also stops 76 percent of his opponents takedown attempts
These are both fighters who need a win, and a loss could mean the end of their UFC career. Calvillo has a ton of questions and the biggest question has to do with her fight IQ. Too often Calvillo puts herself in bad positions and I expect she is going to be put in a bad spot again in this fight. Nunes is going to win the exchanges with her power, and Calvillo is going to get worn down here. Back Nunes to pull the upset.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
