Another Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s
flyweight title challenger might emerge in March.
On March 9, the organization will be running the pay-per-view card
of UFC
299. MMA
Mania broke the news on Wednesday that Katlyn
Chookagian (18-5) will be making her comeback to the cage after
nearly a year and a half off against Maycee
Barber (13-2) at this show. Both women confirmed their
involvement in this 125-pound contender pairing on their
social media profiles, while also stating that it will go down
in Miami, presumably at the Kaseya Center.
This will be the first appearance for Chookagian since an
unsuccessful outing against Manon
Fiorot at UFC 280 in October 2022. The New Jersey native fell
short to Fiorot on the scorecards, which put a halt to a four-fight
win streak—all by decision. In her run from 2020 to 2022 that
restored her status as a top contender, she defeated Amanda
Ribas, Jennifer
Maia, Viviane
Araujo and Cynthia
Calvillo. In the last five years, Chookagian has only come up
short four times, most notably for the belt against Valentina
Shevchenko at UFC 247. The veteran is currently tied with the
most fights in her division (13) along with the most victories
(nine).
Since her loss to future champ Alexa
Grasso at UFC 258 in 2021, Barber has been a woman possessed,
prevailing in five straight. In her most recent appearance, Barber
wrecked Ribas with punches and elbows. Before that victory, she
topped Andrea Lee,
Jessica
Eye, Montana
De La Rosa and
squeaked by Miranda
Maverick. Barber is one shy of Shevchenko’s record for the most
knockouts in women’s 125-pound history with three.
UFC 299 will presumably go down inside of the Kaseya Center in
Miami—although that destination has not yet been confirmed—on March
9. The main attraction will see a rematch for bantamweight gold as
Sean
O’Malley tries to hold the line against former foe Marlon Vera.
Other fights booked for this event thus far include a bantamweight
banger pitting Pedro
Munhoz against Kyler
Phillips, and a flyweight clash when C.J. Vergara
meets Asu
Almabaev. A welterweight thriller between Gilbert
Burns and Jack
Della Maddalena has also been linked to this billing, but it
has not been made official.