Cynthia Calvillo agrees with observers who say her move up in weight class is overdue. Her motivation was bolstered by being offered a main-event slot against a top-ranked opponent in Las Vegas. Calvillo faces former title challenger Jessica Eye to top the card on Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvllo. Their bout draws the curtain on the showcase from the Apex facility, with the main UFC Fight Night card set for 9 p.m. ET.

Calvillo told the media this week that she had long planned her move from strawweight, where she struggled for years to make weight and had numerous catchweight bouts. She feels she will be more effective at her natural weight against Eye, who seeks a win in order to protect her ranking and a shot at a title rematch with Valentina Shevchenko. Calvillo is a -135 favorite (risk $135 to win $100) in the latest Eye vs. Calvillo odds from William Hill after the fight opened as a pick’em. In the co-main event atop the UFC fight card, Marvin Vettori (-220) takes on Karl Roberson (+180) in a battle of middleweight prospects. Before making your UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo predictions, make sure you check out what SportsLine MMA analyst Kyle Marley has to say. 

Marley won the first-ever “ToutMaster” UFC betting contest sponsored by MMAOddsBreaker and also appears regularly on multiple MMA betting and DFS shows. Over the past 15 months, $100 bettors who have followed Marley’s picks are more than $20,000. 

The accomplished MMA analyst has been on fire, as he has connected on a whopping nine consecutive main-event winners, which includes a streak of five straight underdogs. His streak includes nailing UFC 250, as favored champion Amanda Nunes made relatively easy work of Felicia Spencer to successfully defend her featherweight title in the main event. In addition to picking up another winner on Nunes, Marley also called a victory for Cody Garbrandt (-145) in his much-anticipated return to the Octagon against Raphael Assuncao (+125) in the co-main event. Anyone who has consistently followed Marley is way up. 

Now, with UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo fast approaching, Marley has carefully studied every matchup on the card, identified the best value in the UFC odds and released his MMA picks for every fight. Those UFC picks are only available at SportsLine. 

Eye vs. Calvillo preview

Eye (15-7-1) is the top-ranked flyweight contender who already has come up short against Valentina Shevchenko in a title bout. She was stopped by a head kick in the second round in June of last year. 

Even so, the 33-year-old Ohio native has won four of her past five bouts. She responded to the loss against Nunes with a unanimous-decision victory over Viviane Araujo in December. 

Many MMA observers feel the move to flyweight (125 pounds) is long overdue for Calvillo. She has missed weight at strawweight (115 pounds) four times in her professional MMA career, including three times with the UFC. 

Calvillo (8-1-1) is the No. 10-ranked strawweight and has gone 5-1-1 in seven UFC bouts. The San Jose, Calif., native has gone 2-0-1 in her last three bouts, and the sole defeat of her UFC tenure came against respected veteran Carla Esparza. She is coming off a controversial majority draw against No. 9-ranked Marina Rodriguez in December. You can see Marley’s Calvillo vs. Eye picks here.

Top UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo predictions

We’ll reveal one of Marley’s UFC Fight Night predictions here: He is backing Marvin Vettori (-220) to emerge with his hand raised by decision against Karl Roberson (+180) in a battle of up-and-coming middleweights. 

The fighters have been slated to face each other on two other cards but the bouts were scrapped for various reasons. A few weeks ago, Vettori missed weight in Jacksonville and had to be hospitalized, leading to a cancellation and infuriating Vettori. Roberson missed weight again Friday, but his Italian opponent took the fight in exchange for a portion of Roberson’s purse.

Roberson (9-2), 29, has won three of his last four and two straight. His lone defeat in that stretch came against rugged veteran Glover Teixeira. The 26-year-old Vettori (14-4-1) also has notched consecutive victories following a stretch in which he went 1-2-1. The versatile fighter is coming off a decision win against Andrew Sanchez in October. 

“Vettori is the more well-rounded fighter and has a slight edge on his feet and on the mat,” Marley told SportsLine. “The line looks about right, but Vettori wins this fight more often than he loses it.”

How to make UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo picks

Marley also has strong picks for Eye vs. Calvillo and every other bout on the UFC Fight Night card. He’s also backing one combatant who is “the much higher-paced fighter and better wrestler.” You can see those selections at SportsLine. 

Who wins Eye vs. Calvillo? And how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on every fight on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card, all from the accomplished expert who’s up more than $20,000 and has hit nine straight winners, and find out.

UFC Fight Night odds:

Jessica Eye (-135) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (+115)
Marvin Vettori (-220) vs. Karl Roberson (+180)
Merab Dvalishvili (-450) vs. Ray Borg (+350)
Andre Fili (-220) vs. Charles Jourdain (+180)
Jordan Espinosa (-165) vs. Mark de La Rosa (+140)
Kevin Aguilar (-170) vs. Charles Rosa (+145)
Anthony Ivy (-175) vs. Christian Aguilera (+145)
Jordan Griffin (-170) vs. Darrick Miner (+145)
Julia Avila (-500) vs. Gina Mazany (+350)
Tyson Nam (-135) vs. Zarrukh Adashev (+115)
Mariya Agapova (-240) vs. Hannah Cifers (+200)