PHOENIX – UFC strawweight Cynthia Calvillo asserts she did everything in her power to keep from missing weight for her previous octagon bout.
But her body wouldn’t cooperate, and she came up two pounds short for a UFC Fight Night 140 bout against Poliana Botelho.
“We tried to prepare for it the best we could, but that time of the month was just not great for me,” Calvillo (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) told MMAjunkie in advance of a return about against Cortney Casey (8-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 1, which takes place Sunday at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix and airs live on ESPN.
Calvillo won, but the miss cost her 20 percent of her purse. So she reconnected with the UFC Performance Institute, which recently installed chefs at events on fight week.
“They prepared all of our meals, and this is the most energy I’ve ever had,” she said. “I feel great, and it’s the least amount of weight I’ve ever had to cut for a weight cut. It’s great to have that learning experience and move forward and just do it the right way.
“I’m actually glad the mishap happened, because I learned a lot about nutrition, and I feel a lot better this week than I have in any other weeks.”
Calvillo not only changed her lifestyle, but begged the promotion to give her another fight as quickly as possible. That’s when the tough veteran Casey materialized.
Calvillo said Casey’s record doesn’t reflect her abilities and noted this is the first time “Cast Iron” has had a full camp. She’s expecting to make a big leap if she’s able to put her opponent away.
To hear more from Calvillo, check out the video above.
For more on UFC on ESPN 1, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
