Maycee Barber vows to pick up right where she left off before illness derailed her career: ‘I don’t have to prove myself’
Maycee Barber was enjoying the best stretch of her career with six consecutive wins in the UFC and she was arguably only one fight away from challenging for the flyweight title. Then disaster struck.
She was knocked out of a scheduled fight against former UFC champion Rose Namajunas due to an illness that put her in the hospital for several days as doctors raced to figure out what went wrong. Barber ended up enduring more than a dozen rounds of antibiotics, which also took a toll on her body and she was told she probably needed to sit out for a year to truly recover.
When she finally booked her return to action back in May for a fight against Erin Blanchfield, the 27-year-old fighter was just about to walk to the octagon when she suffered another medical emergency out of nowhere. She underwent more testing with doctors finally settling on a course of action that allowed Barber to resume her career — and the culmination of all that goes down Saturday when she faces Karine Silva on the UFC 323 prelims.
“I feel like this is the perfect matchup for me to showcase that and just continue on with this is my momentum, this is my time,” Barber told MMA Fighting. “Although it’s been 18 months or however long it’s been for me of having a layoff, this is my time to shine.
“This is my fight where I get to go out and get a dominant finish and a dominant win and just solidify my spot in either this fight or the next fight being my title run.”
As much as Barber wishes she had been able to stay active over the past year and a half, she can’t help that the unexpected illnesses derailed her career.
That said, Barber doesn’t feel like she needs to take a step back when it comes to her career ambitions because she’s hopeful that a win at UFC 323 puts her right where she belongs in the division. While she understands there are going to be questions about her health right up until the moment she actually throws a punch in the octagon, Barber promises she’s more than ready to go.
“I know I don’t have to prove myself,” Barber said. “I’ve proven myself my entire career. Unfortunately situations happened where these were out of my control but it’s not something like I chose to not fight or I chose to quit in a fight or anything where they a reason to doubt me. I don’t believe that anyone has a reason to doubt me. If anything, you guys have a reason to continue to cheer for me because I am not going to take no for an answer.
“I’m going to keep coming back. It doesn’t matter what life throws at me, I’m going to keep coming until I get that belt wrapped around my waist. I know that the UFC knows that and they believe that. I know they believe I will be a great champion. I think the plans that they have and the girls they have me matched up with, it’s what I need and what’s they need and it’s the right thing for the right time and place.”
When she first arrived in the UFC, Barber proclaimed that she planned to become the youngest champion in promotion history, besting a record still held by Jon Jones when he claimed the light heavyweight title at 23 years old.
While that obviously didn’t happen for her, Barber joining the UFC roster at such a young age has provided her with something every fighter desperately needs — more time.
Despite not fighting since March 2024, Barber enters her next fight at UFC 323 at just 27 years old, which means she’s just now reaching the prime of her athletic career. That detail gave her a little extra perspective when reflecting on all the time she missed trying to get healthy again.
“I’ve been able to grow up in the UFC and it’s been something where I’m like I always had that sense of urgency of ‘oh you have to go, you have to go, you have to go!’” Barber explained. “But at the same time, I’m 27 and I look at some of these people that are just getting signed and they’re in their 30s or in their later, later 20s, 28, 29, 30. I’m like wow. Like I’m right there. I just have to remind myself of that sometimes because I do have that [feeling] like ‘you have to go!’ But at the same time, I was like damn, I was signed to the UFC at 20 and I’m 28, I’m like this is seven years. I haven’t accomplished everything I set out to accomplish yet.
“It’s really two different feelings I get. Like wow I am really young still and I’m right there with everybody else but at the same time I really got to hurry. I’ve got all these things I want to accomplish and these goals and these dreams. I’ve got to get these girls out of my way!”
Barber aims to begin her climb back up the ladder with the Silva fight on Saturday but a quick look at the flyweight division gives her hope that a title shot isn’t far away even after she’s missed so much time.
Valentina Shevchenko has vanquished many of the top contenders already and the two most viable challengers for her belt are now Natalia Silva and Erin Blanchfield, who are both coming off impressive wins. Barber isn’t necessarily trying to jump the line over either of them but she believes a statement making performance at UFC 323 at least puts her in that same conversation.
“Anything can happen,” Barber said. “Injuries, sicknesses, pull outs, whatever, anything can happen. With this win and with this finish, I’m right there. They call me like ‘hey, we need you to fight,’ I’ll be ready. It’s a very fitting thing. I’m on a huge win streak and coming off of dominant finishes against great opponents, I believe that solidifies me. If not, one more fight and I have the belt. I’ll be happy either way.”
First things first, Barber needs to make that walk to the octagon on Saturday and she’s already bursting with anticipation about experiencing that thrill again.
“All the people that are following along, whether they’re following along to see me win or following along to see me fail, I get to share that experience in that walkout with everybody else,” Barber said.
“The APEX is cool but for me I can’t to go through T-Mobile Arena and walk through and have every single person be like ‘that’s right, she’s back!’ that feeling, that’s what I’m excited for. I can feel it already. I’m very excited for that.
