It looks like UFC 209 will have a women’s bout on the card after all. On Thursday, Amanda Cooper (2-2, 1-1 UFC) announced via her Instagram that she will be welcoming strawweight prospect Cynthia Calvillo (3-0) to the UFC.
Cooper was the runner-up on Season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, getting submitted by Tatiana Suarez at the finale in July. She then rebounded by claiming a close unanimous decision over the now-retired Anna Elmose in November.
Calvillo, on the other hand, is undefeated as an amateur and professional. In her three professional victories, she holds two KO/TKO stoppages. The most recent came over Montana Stewart last month. Calvillo also holds an amateur win over Aspen Ladd, a highly touted Invicta bantamweight. Ladd’s unanimous decision loss to Calvillo remains her lone defeat in her official amateur and professional bouts.
Cooper will look to extend her winning streak to two for the first time in her young professional career. Calvillo, on the other hand, will hope to extend her record to an undefeated 4-0 and get off on the right foot in the UFC. It doesn’t appear to be a “loser leaves town” match, as both women are coming off victories. Job security in the UFC has been a bit shaky in the WME-IMG era so far, however.
The two strawweight prospects will meet in the Octagon in less than two weeks on March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC 209 looks as follows:
MAIN CARD (PPV – 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET)
- Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson – welterweight title
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson – interim lightweight title
- Rashad Evans vs. Daniel Kelly
- Lando Vannata vs. David Teymur
- Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1 – 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET)
- Marcin Tybura vs. Luis Henrique
- Mirsad Bektic vs. Darren Elkins
- Iuri Alcantara vs. Luke Sanders
- Mark Godbeer vs. Daniel Spitz
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass – 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET)
- Tyson Pedro vs. Paul Craig
- Amanda Cooper vs. Cynthia Calvillo
- Albert Morales vs. Andre Soukhamthath
MAIN IMAGE:
