WASHINGTON – Cynthia Calvillo apparently got a lot of flak from Paige VanZant fans after ripping her former teammate ahead of UFC on ESPN 7. Now she’s putting an end to it.
Ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Marina Rodriguez, which serves as the co-headliner, Calvillo (8-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has been asked about VanZant and a potential matchup between the two. Calvillo (8-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) dismissed it as anything that would be competitive, and laid into VanZant in the process.
Not only were Calvillo and VanZant former teammates at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif., but they used to be roommates, as well. That’s why Calvillo thinks she has a deeper insight into who VanZant is as a person.
“It’s different when people have their opinion when they don’t really know,” Calvillo said at UFC on ESPN 7’s media day Thursday. “I know her very well. I know Paige VanZant very well. We used to live together. So there’s a lot of people out there who want to put their two cents in and a lot of stuff. I don’t want it to get more blown up, more out of proportion than it needs to be. It is what it is.”
The comments “definitely” got a lot of heat from VanZant fans, Calvillo said. She’s able to handle any pushback without issue, but given she’s about to meet Rodriguez in a key strawweight bout at Capital One Arena on Saturday and VanZant is set to fight out her UFC contract in March, Calvillo sees no point in continuing to talk about it.
“At this point, I’m just done giving her attention,” Calvillo said. “It’s just pointless. I don’t really care to talk about that anymore. She’s just getting pretty much what she wants. I feel like they keep interviewing me about it nonstop, and that’s all we see and we’re on two different journeys, two different levels. We shouldn’t even be talked about in the same sentence, honestly.”
Cynthia Calvillo: Ex-roommate Paige VanZant shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as me
