Maycee Barber is still waiting to make the walk to the UFC octagon for the first time, but she’s already calling out an opponent for her second fight.
Denver, CO — For a fighter heading into her first ever UFC fight, Maycee Barber sure isn’t showing any nerves. Cool, calm, and collected was the best way to describe her at Thursday’s UFC Denver media day. Barber will make her promotional debut Saturday night against short-notice opponent Hannah Cifers. ‘The Future,’ however, is already looking ahead.
“There’s a few cards I would like to be on,” Barber (5-0) told reporters including Cageside Press on Thursday in Denver. “Preferably a big card. I’m looking at maybe even March 2, would be a good one that I would like to be on.”
Not only is she ready to book her second fight in the UFC before even having her first, she has an opponent in mind. “The person I want to fight is Mackenzie Dern, actually,” said Barber. “She has the number fifteen spot, and I want that spot. I feel like that’s a great fight for me. That’s a fight that we’re gonna win. That’s gonna get me in the rankings, and then next thing is to move on up through the rankings.”
For Barber, the call-out is just a little bit personal. In her eyes, Dern ran from her back when they were in LFA (Legacy Fighting Alliance) together. “She ducked me in LFA,” said Barber. “When we were fighting in LFA, I was offered to fight her, and she turned it down, and I wanted to fight her. Then I was given the opportunity a second time, and she turned it down again. I feel like now she can’t run away. If she’s in the UFC, she has to fight. So that’s the fight for us.”
As to why she believes Dern backed off those fights, Maycee Barber added “because she’s not ready for me.”
The first step in facing Dern is defeating Ciffers at UFC Denver on Saturday, November 10. Maycee Barber’s UFC debut will go down on the main card, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
