Cynthia Calvillo has been released by the UFC after suffering a split-decision loss to Loopy Godinez at UFC 287 on Saturday night.
The 35-year-old Calvillo was just three fights into her pro-MMA career when she was signed by the UFC in 2017, and she was soon making a big impression with submission wins over Amanda Cooper and Pearl Gonzalez and a decision victory against Joanne Wood.
By that stage Dana White was already calling Calvillo a future star of the sport, likening her to Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey and flying her to UFC 214 in his private jet.
However, Calvillo then lost her next fight against Carla Esparza on the scorecards and tested positive for marijuana, leading to a nine month suspension.
Calvillo did get back on track after that lay-off with three wins against Poliana Botelho, Cortney Casey and Jessica Eye along with a majority draw with Marina Rodriguez, but she did miss weight on two occasions during that time.
At that stage Calvillo was starting to push into the title picture, but it was a dream that never materialized as she’d go on to lose her next fight to Kaitlyn Chookagian in what would prove to be the start of a five-fight losing streak that included back-to-back TKO losses against Jessica Andrade and Andrea Lee, a split-decision defeat against Nina Nunes and then another against Godinez this past weekend.
That proved to be the cut-off point for the UFC and so Calvillo bows out of the promotion with a 6-6-1 run, leaving her overall career record at 9-6-1.
