UFC 254 is getting a fight between two top five women’s flyweight contenders. Cynthia Calvillo (9-1-1) and Lauren Murphy (13-4) are expected to throw down per MMA Fighting.
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy in the works for UFC 254 (@JoseYoungs, @MikeHeck_JR) https://t.co/68AJqLjCi9 pic.twitter.com/Hp7W2yXBjd
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) August 13, 2020
Fight for the next UFC title shot?
Cynthia Calvillo didn’t mess around when she made the move up to flyweight this year. After struggling with her weight to stay at strawweight, Calvillo moved up to what’s more of her natural weight class.
In her first fight in the division, she took on the number one ranked contender at the time, Jessica Eye. Eye had only lost one fight in the division and that was to the current UFC champion, Valentina Shevchenko.
Calvillo and Eye got a main event slot at UFC on ESPN 10, and Calvillo put on quite the performance. She used her strong grappling base to neutralize Eye and get the unanimous decision victory.
Because she moved right in and took out the number one contender, she made her flyweight rankings debut at number two. Her impressive victory in her first fight proved that she could hang, and some thought she could be ready for a title shot.
We now know that Jennifer Maia is getting the next shot at the champion, Shevchenko at UFC 255. With that, Calvillo will need one more fight to get to a title shot.
That is where the fourth ranked fighter in the UFC‘s flyweight division, Murphy, steps in. Murphy is no joke herself and she’s coming into this contest riding a three fight winning streak.
In her last fight, Murphy put on an excellent performance over the tough Roxanne Modafferi. That win put Murphy squarely in the top five, perhaps just a win away from the title shot.
These two ladies are likely next in line for a shot at the title. We do not know what this means for Katelyn Chookagian. However, these two will face at UFC 254 and the winner will likely have their eyes focused on the UFC 255 co-main event.