UFC free fight: Cynthia Calvillo outpoints Cortney Casey to earn decision win

Although Cynthia Calvillo wasn’t able to get the fight to the ground against Cortney Casey last year, she showed off some of her striking skills en route to a notable win.

Calvillo (8-1-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) faced Casey at UFC on ESPN 1 in February 2019 looking to make it two wins in a row.

In Round 1, Calvillo used effective leg kicks to keep Casey at bay and was able to land a strong knee in the clinch, followed by a right hand off the break. She continued to mix things up nicely by going to the body as well, as she showed solid improvements to her striking game.

Calvillo opened up Round 2 with some more leg kicks as Casey struggled to score anything effective moving forward. Calvillo landed a nice overhand right, using it to grab a hold of Casey’s back, but Casey was able to disengage with relative ease. Casey was having a hard time landing, but she did connect with a good lead right and a low kick that seemed to hurt Calvillo.

Casey recognized that Calvillo’s leg was bothering her, and looked to capitalize by attacking with leg kicks. Calvillo looked for the takedown by stacking Casey against the cage, but Casey defended well. The crowd started to grow restless as both women continued to engage in a gritty, tactical battle.

But as the clapper sounded to mark the final 10 seconds of the fight, Calvillo and Casey bit down on their mouthpieces and landed perhaps the best exchanges of the fight as the fight went all the way to the scorecards. After the judges rendered their scores, Calvillo had done enough to earn the decision win.

Calvillo then went on to battle to a majority draw with Marina Rodriguez last December in a fight where she missed weight by four-and-a-half pounds. Now she will make her flyweight debut this Saturday when she takes on Jessica Eye in the main event of UFC on ESPN 10. The event will take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Before she faces Eye, relive Calvillo’s win over Casey in the video above.