UFC 219 in Las Vegas this December is starting to take shape. On Wednesday, the promotion announced the addition of a women’s strawweight bout to the card. The surging Cynthia Calvillo will face former 115lb champ Carla Esparza at the event, which serves as the UFC’s annual New Years show.
Calvillo (6-0) has been perfect in her MMA career to date, and will enter UFC 219 coming off a win over Joanne Calderwood in July at UFC Fight Night 113. Prior to that, she had defeated Pearl Gonzalez at UFC 210 in Buffalo in April, and Amanda Cooper a month earlier at UFC 209. That makes the fight against Esparza her fourth in what has been a very successful year.
Carla Esparza, of course, was the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion, winning the title at the end of The Ultimate Fighter 20 against Rose Namajunas. Esparza (12–4) then lost the belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in her very first title defense. Most recently, she defeated Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night 112.
UFC 219 takes place December 30 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. No main event has yet been announced for the card. Earlier this week, UFC President Dana White denied reports that Conor McGregor would meet Nate Diaz for the third time at the event.
