Credit:Getty/UFC
Credit: Getty/UFC
Maycee
Barber emerged from a contract-winning performance on Dana
White’s Contender Series with big ambitions for her Ultimate
Fighting Championship career.
Ahead of her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 139 in November 2018,
Barber
announced her plans to break Jon Jones’
record by becoming the youngest champion in promotion history.
“I’ve always said it: I’m going to be the youngest UFC champion,”
Barber said prior to the event. “But it’s better to just let your
actions speak and talk a little less. We’re going to say less, do
more. And, yeah, you guys know. You’ll see where I go.”
The hype began to build in earnest as Barber dispatched Hannah
Cifers, J.J. Aldrich
and Gillian
Robertson via technical knockout in her first three promotional
appearances. She hit a speed bump at UFC 246, however, suffering a
torn ACL in an upset loss to Roxanne
Modafferi in January 2020. After more than a year on the
sidelines, “The Future” returned to action at UFC 258 this past
Saturday, but once again she was stymied in a unanimous decision
loss to Alexa
Grasso in the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas.
Sometimes when fighters fail to deliver on their promises, backlash
follows, but UFC president Dana White still believes that Barber is
capable of big things. It just might not happen as quickly as
Barber originally predicted.
“She’s a savage. She was one of the most ambitious and toughest
young women that I’ve ever met. I expect nothing but big thigns
from her,” White said at the UFC 258 post-fight press conference.
“She’s a baby still. She’s got nothing but time.
“I know she put this unbelievable pressure on herself to be a
champion before Jon Jones.
It’s good to set goals for yourself, but she’s a baby – she’s got
nothing but time.”