UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo results and post-fight analysis

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Mookie Alexander recaps all the action that took place at UFC Vegas 2 at the APEX facility. There was a lot of groaning about the decision to have Jessica Eye vs. Cynthia Calvillo as a UFC main event. The ca…

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Mookie Alexander recaps all the action that took place at UFC Vegas 2 at the APEX facility.

There was a lot of groaning about the decision to have Jessica Eye vs. Cynthia Calvillo as a UFC main event. The card itself was not exactly meant with a lot of enthusiasm, and judging by our site traffic and the play-by-play thread comments section, many of you didn’t care whatsoever.

Thankfully much of this card was entertaining thanks to several unexpectedly quick finishes. The main event was not good, though. It wasn’t terrible but it was very forgettable. Calvillo outclassed the former women’s flyweight title challenger, which will instantly make her a contender. She outstruck Eye and easily outwrestled and outgrappled her, making this the biggest win of her young career. Eye thought she won, which was laughable because she mustered up very little meaningful offense.

Calvillo’s striking is still a work in progress and her cardio seemed to go on her towards the end of the fourth round. Even though Eye is/was ranked #1, there is no way that Calvillo should be near Valentina Shevchenko. Katlyn Chookagian called her out immediately afterward on Twitter, and… sure, why not? I’m not sure I’d be able to handle that one also being a main event, though.

More thoughts below:

Main Card

  • Jessica Eye is 4-6 in her last 10 and missed weight twice.
  • Italian middleweight Marvin Vettori was pissed that Karl Roberson got their fight cancelled by missing weight in May. Roberson missed weight again on Friday and Vettori made him pay. Karl’s serious liabilities as a defensive wrestler got exploited and Vettori was able to wear him down quickly and get a first-round rear-naked choke. Vettori is due for a ranked opponent with the way he’s performed.
  • Charles Rosa had a bit of a slow start against Kevin Aguilar, but the Massachusetts native found his timing and range and certainly had more in the gas tank than Aguilar did. It was an ugly kickboxing match (at least to me) but there’s no denying that Rosa was the rightful winner, which is a plus for him after getting dominated by Bryce Mitchell last month. Why that one judge had it 29-28 Aguilar is beyond me.
  • As expected, featherweights Andre Fili and Charles Jourdain put on a high-paced, very competitive and entertaining show. Jourdain scored a knockdown in the opening round, but the striking was otherwise very close and it looked as if Fili’s wrestling may have been the deciding factor on the scorecards. The split decision went Fili’s way — Jourdain seemed surprised that he got a card in his favor — and I agree with the outcome.
  • Jordan Espinosa was too fast, too slick, and too physical for Mark De La Rosa to handle. A shutout unanimous decision win for Espinosa, whose jab was on point and he did a lot of his damage off of defending Mark’s takedowns. De La Rosa has lost four in a row and his time in the UFC is surely over.
  • Mariya Agapova made the most of her UFC debut, flooring Hannah Cifers with a head kick and then finishing things off with a wicked rear-naked choke. At 23 years old, she looks like a prospect to watch. For Cifers, she is arguably undersized at strawweight and she took this fight at flyweight on short notice, yielding predictable results.

Preliminary Card

  • Props to Gustavo Lopez for taking this fight on short notice, but how the hell do you deal with the endless workrate and constant wrestling threat that is Merab Dvalishvili? That dude never stops working and he put Lopez through 15 minutes of hell. He needs a step up in competition because he’s yet another gem in the men’s bantamweight division… and he called out Sean O’Malley, which would be fascinating!
  • Gina Mazany felt the wrath of the “Raging Panda.” It took only 22 seconds for Julia Avila to get the TKO finish. I don’t even have much to add because it was just that easy a victory for the geologist.
  • Flyweight and bantamweight veteran Tyson Nam finally got his first UFC win in some style. Kickboxing veteran Zarrukh Adashev took this matchup just days ago, and he was stiffened by a devastating right hand and a follow-up punch on the ground. That was sensational and scary all at once.
  • Christian Aguilera wiped out Anthony Ivy in under a minute in a sensational UFC debut. I didn’t even have time to go through Christina Aguilera’s catalog of songs to make terrible jokes throughout the night. One thing you can’t deny is that Aguilera is a fighter.
  • Hi, Dana!