I know something you don’t know… pic.twitter.com/nBlDurJfiu
— Lauren Murphy (@LaurenMurphyMMA)
August 13, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A high-stakes women’s flyweight bout is coming together
for the October pay-per-view of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. The news first broke from MMA
Fighting on Thursday that Cynthia
Calvillo (9-1-1) will be squaring off with Lauren
Murphy (13-4) at
UFC 254 on Oct. 24. The two will be facing one another at
flyweight, and the victor could find herself earning a title shot
with a win. Although the two fighters have agreed to meet, the
contracts have not yet been signed, but Murphy posted on her
social
media accounts hinting that fight news was looming.
Calvillo made her successful move up to the division in June,
taking on Jessica Eye
on short notice and winning a decision over the former flyweight
title challenger. Calvillo has not been defeated since 2017, when
Carla
Esparza beat her at UFC 219. Since then, Calvillo has rattled
off wins over Poliana
Botelho and Cortney
Casey at strawweight, and then drew with Marina
Rodriguez. Across those three bouts, Calvillo missed weight on
two separate occasions to preempt her relocation up a weight
class.
Murphy has rattled off three straight wins in 2019 and 2020,
including a knockout of Mara
Romero Borella along with decisions against Andrea Lee
and Roxanne
Modafferi. The former
Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight champ moved to 125
pounds when she faced Barb
Honchak in 2017, and won a decision to cement her place in the
division.
UFC 254 goes down on Oct. 24 at a currently undisclosed location.
Headlining the card is a much-anticipated lightweight championship
unification match between Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Justin
Gaethje. Also on the main card is a heavyweight battle between
Alexander
Volkov and Walt Harris,
while Robert
Whittaker takes on Jared
Cannonier at middleweight.