Cynthia Calvillo notched up her second UFC victory in just over a month tonight at UFC 210 with a third round rear-naked choke submission against the debuting Pearl Gonzalez.
Round One:
Calvillo starts with a leg kick. Now an attempt upstairs as Gonzalez feels out with her jab.
Calvillo throwing out a few punches to the head and body, but most of these are being blocked. Gonzalez looking for the hook counter.
Nice three punch combo from Calvillo. She’s staying busy, but not landing anything too meaningful yet. Calvillo lands solidly to the body.
Gonzalez with a hook, then two more behind it as she starts to move forward with purpose. Punches for Calvillo then a solid strike in return from Gonzalez.
Calvillo continuing to throw the far greater volume of strikes, but Gonzalez has a tight guard to block a lot of this offense.
Gonzalez presses Calvillo into the cage looking for a takedown. Calvillo denies that and for a moment tries for a guillotine choke.
Gonzalez bleeding from her nose at this stage in the fight. Gonzalez pushing her opponent to the cage again then gets the takedown, but from her back Calvillo almost manages to move on top, then opts to go for a triangle choke and has it locked in tightly. The round ends before she has a chance to finish it though.
Round Two:
Punches for Calvillo and a leg kick for Gonzalez. As in the first round it’s Calvillo that’s got a big advantage in volume of strikes here.
As she’s landing a leg kick, Gonzalez times a takedown and lands it. Gonzalez tries for an armbar, but Calvillo stays patient and gets out of it, ending up on top.
Calvillo slickly scrambles to take Gonzalez back. She goes for the rear-naked choke, but Gonzalez defends that for now. Calvillo goes for the submission again and again Gonzalez hangs in there.
Calvillo transitions into mount, then takes the back again as she continues to put Gonzalez under pressure in the final moments of the round.
Round Three:
Gonzalez comes out with a one-two then a low leg kick. Another leg kick, then a third that lands more solidly. Perhaps a slowing down from Calvillo here after a busy opening ten minutes.
Calvillo backing up and Gonzalez is able to land a few punches. Calvillo lands to the body. Now she reaches for a leg and lands a takedown.
This is a good spot for Calvillo, securely on top in the center of the Octagon. She’s in half guard for now and as Gonzalez attempts to scramble Calvillo ends up in full mount.
Now Calvillo moves to Gonzalez back. She sinks in the rear-naked choke, but Gonzalez has no intention of quitting and manages to escape that.
Calvillo is relentless on the mat though, soon finding another rear-naked choke and this time it’s in deep and there’s no way out for Ganzalez this time and she’s forced to tap out with 3.45mins of the third round gone.
Another impressive outing from Calvillo then that confirms that she’s going to be a significant player in the woman’s strawweight division.
