A women’s flyweight bout pitting Erin
Blanchfield against Maycee
Barber will serve as the main event for an
Ultimate Fighting Championship card on May 31.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the pairing on Tuesday. The
UFC
Fight Night event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas, though a location and venue have not been officially
confirmed. Blanchfield and Barber were initially slated to meet in
December 2021 before Barber withdrew from the contest.
Blanchfield has been victorious in seven of her first eight Octagon
appearances, with her lone defeat coming at the hands of top
contender Manon
Fiorot at UFC on ESPN 54 in March 2024. “Cold Blooded”
rebounded from that loss in her most recent outing, when she took a
five-round verdict over Rose
Namajunas at UFC Edmonton this past November. The New Jersey
native owns other notable triumphs over the likes of Taila
Santos, Jessica
Andrade and Molly
McCann.
Barber is in the midst of a six-fight winning streak but will be
competing for the first time since March 2024. She was scheduled to
face Namajunas at UFC Denver last June but was forced to pull out
of the event due to health issues. The 26-year-old known as “The
Future” has bested the likes of Kaitlyn Cerminara, Amanda
Ribas and Andrea Lee
during her current winning streak.