Maycee Barber Targets Alexa Grasso Rematch After UFC Jacksonville Victory

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Maycee Barber had heard the rumblings, so it’s easy to understand why she was quite pleased to put Amanda Ribas away inside the distance at UFC on ABC 5.

“The Future” earned her first finish since 2019, defeating Ribas via second-round TKO in Saturday’s co-main event at Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

“It means everything,” Barber said. “Every time I step out in the cage, I’m going out for a finish, and the competition is getting tougher, but at the same time I really needed to step it up and just get into that zone again, and just put myself in that position where I’m like, ‘You know what? There’s no way out of this except for me finishing this girl.’

“I think that with my last few performances, people are probably like, ‘Oh, well, she’s going to go to a decision, she’s backing down.’ But I’m not backing down and I’m coming to finish these girls again.”

Barber has won five consecutive UFC appearances and has been victorious in eight of 10 fights overall within the promotion. The 25-year-old Team Alpha Male product’s last defeat came at the hands of reigning flyweight queen Alexa Grasso at UFC 258 in February 2021. Barber has her sights set on avenging that defeat — whether Grasso successfully defends her title in the Sept. 16 rematch with Valentina Shevchenko or not.

“I’ve been saying it time and time again, whether Alexa wins against Valentina or not, I do want that rematch,” Barber said. “So we’ll see. That would be ideal, but we’ll see. I’m going to go back and talk to Hunter [Campbell], Mick [Maynard], and the team, and figure it out.”

Grasso’s fourth-round submission victory over Shevchenko in the UFC 285 co-main event this past March is the frontrunner for 2023 “Upset of the Year,” but Barber sees the rematch as being more of a coin flip.

“It’s a toss-up. Alexa is an incredible fighter. Valentina was a dominant champion for so long for a reason,” she said. “So honestly, it’s something where it’s hard to give a prediction because anything can happen.”
 
I actually like Barber and have enjoyed watching her fight (even before the UFC), but even I think she needs another win. IMO, she needs to go the same route as Blanchfield and get a big signature win over one of the "old guard" Top 5 (Maia, Murphy, or The Decisionator).

Jarl
 
Probably going to fight Chookigan next. She been off the board for a while and Blonde fighter has fought everyone else in the rankings and needs new blood
 
Too soon. Barber showed visible improvements on Saturday, and a level of toughness I hadn't seen in her but there's some good fighters near the top, not including the current champ. I'd like to see Barber get tested against a better striker. I have a feeling Araujo and Fiorot would show her up.
 
She should be number 9 on Tuesday. Maia, Murphy, and Chook 8, 7, and 6. All 3 are certainly winnable. She’s sitting in a good spot right now. She still gets to have one more fight before getting into the elite girls in that top 5. With Andrade back at SW. The champ, 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all booked right now.

So the timing is good. Obviously Chook at 6 is the bigger risk/reward. Maia took a round from Shevchenko. And Murphy is not great, but very tough. She could win or lose any of those 3. If she really is getting better fight to fight. She should beat any of those 3. It’ll be interesting who she gets.
 
I need to see Barber face someone with better striking defense first. Ribas has terrible defense. She's so easy to hit. I was impressed with Barber. But it's also because Ribas walks forward with her hands down and that jittery movement. She's easy to read. She get lit up in every fight.
 
True that, she was hitting nothing but air only a few fights ago
Think she easily could or even should have lost to Lee in her last fight. And definitely should have lost to Maverick.

We've still got Grasso vs Shev in Sept, Fiorot vs Rose two weeks before that, and Santos vs Blanchfield the week before that. So it's gotta be at least 2 for Barber first, I figure
 
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