As rough as Cynthia Calvillo looked at Friday’s UFC Argentina weigh-ins, she looked fantastic on Saturday night, submitting Poliana Botelho within a round.
When Cynthia Calvillo missed weight for her strawweight scarp against Poliana Botelho at UFC Argentina, alarm bells went off. There was a real question, frankly, of whether she should fight, based on how she looked getting to the scale on Friday. Which was, in short, shaky at best. Calvillo blamed the rough weight cut on the sudden onset of her period. The fight moved forward at a 118lb catchweight.
On Saturday night, with time to recover, Calvillo certainly looked much better than she had just over twenty-four hours earlier. The pair exchanged early, with a focus on kicks. Calvillo doubled up on those, but needed to find a way to close the distance and land punches in bunches. A left hand connected for Calvillo, and shortly after, she was able to take Botelho down and move immediately to side control.
Once the fight was on the ground, Calvillo went to work. She transitioned to Botelho’s back by first pinning her opponent’s arm, then softening her up with punches. Calvillo then sunk in the rear-naked choke without hooks, and before she’d even really taken the back. As she stepped into position, Botelho was already tapping, and after a rough year that saw her sit out for a marijuana suspension, Calvillo was back in the win column.
Once @Cyn_Calvillo gets you down… watch out! #UFCArgentina pic.twitter.com/tbSon7EhVx
— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2018
After the fight, she dedicated her performance to her grandfather, who she lost earlier in the year.
Cynthia Calvillo def. Poliana Bothelo by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 4:48
