FIGHT TIME

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Sunday, July 16th

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12:00 PM PST

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3:00 PM EST

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Glasgow, Scotland

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Joanne 'JoJo' Calderwood:

The Queen of elbows and body shots; a simple yet effective muay Thai stylist that uses no more energy than she has to. JoJo will plod forward all minutes of the fight until the opponent is hurt or out: do not succumb to blows on the feet with Calderwood because finishing is what she does best. Although she retired from Muay Thai in 2012 to pursue mixed martial arts, she is still the current ISKA (Sport Karate) World Flyweight Champion, IKF European Flyweight Champion (International Kickboxing), the WKL (World Kickboxing) European Flyweight Champion and the 'WBC' UK Bantamweight Champion. Her final kickboxing bout was in September of 2012, and she had earned a record of 19-2 up until that point. In fact, JoJo is still ranked #2 in the world by the 'World Professional Muay Thai Federation' and hasn't fought for that organization in half a decade.

The mixed martial arts accolades on her record are not to be overlooked either, JoJo has been a force at both 115 and 125 pounds in the UFC. She is still the only fighter to finish 'Invicta' staple Ashley Cummins, and she was able to finish the durable contender Valerie Letourneau who had just given the straw weight champ hell for 5 rounds. Expect a hellish whirlwind on the feet, and a motivated JoJo being lifted by her countrymen's chanting spirit!

Cynthia Calvillo:

The brash yet intelligent fighter trains out of 'Team Alpha Male' with the likes of bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. She is the prodigy of Urijah Faber and is slowly becoming the golden child of UFC president Dana White. Cynthia is 5-0 professionally with 4 wins coming via finish, she is relentless in taking fights to the floor and finishing the job by any means necessary. Calvillo isn't a one trick pony either: she has effective volume in her punches which allow her to get inside and drag girls to the ground.

She is a natural born wrestler who escapes the mold, instead of hanging out in half guard and using ground and pound (as most wrestlers do), Cynthia will 'catch-wrestler' and incorporate submissions and scrambles to dominate the opponent. Her transitions into mount and ability to take the back are second to none, if Cynthia is wrapped around the opponent engaging the choke, that fight will be over shortly. With an incredible debut submission over Amanda Bobby, and an even more impressive war against Pearl Gonzales, Cynthia has shown she deserves a higher ranked opponent on a bigger stage...and so here we are!

Breakdown and Prediction:

Coined mostly for combat sports, 'On Paper' is an analysis of a fighter with only a record shown and the skills produced. This method to pick a fight is somewhat reliable, but it won't net you knowledge of the actual fight or placement of fighters. On paper, this is less of a pick em and more of a dominant feature for the absolute bulldog in Cynthia Calvillo. She has shown to aggressively seek finishes by submission on the ground, and her attrition has always had her grinding out the 3rd round as her opponents could not keep up. JoJo has been susceptible to grapplers in the past, and has in fact been submitted in fights quite easily and early on. Rose Namajunas, Maryna Moroz, and Jessica Andrade have all exposed JoJo on the ground, and has shown she needs space and time to truly land effective shots.

The readiness and motivation factor here is huge, JoJo has had a long time to rest and get her body back to 115 pounds. Her last fight was against the number one contender in Andrade, and it was her first fight back at straw weight. With a healthy weight cut and the hometown people on her side, we may see a very different version of the Muay Thai legend. Cynthia will be ready for war as well, and will employ all her capabilities on the ground and feet to finish. These ladies don't take it easy in fights, strikes will be thrown constantly and either fighter will take advantage of any moment at any time! This should be an absolute war with the winner becoming a new a contender for the straw weight division.

At the end of the day this fight is a true pick em, two women hungry for a championship title they have never been closer to. Although JoJo has a lot more professional fights than Cynthia, she is actually a bit later to the mixed martial arts game, and Cynthia had great amateur experience and wins with her top tier training camp. This one will come down to the small battles, and who can get up when they can't! Never doubt an under dog at home...

Prediction: Joanne 'JoJo' Calderwood by TKO Round 3

Presenter: @brandonk

Editor & GFX: @cryptoiskey