She might be a little shy in front of the cameras right now, but Hannah Cifers did not hesitate when offered a spot on the UFC Denver card opposite Maycee Barber.
Denver, CO — You’ll have to forgive Hannah Cifers if she was a bit of a deer in the headlights at the UFC Denver media day on Thursday. For Cifers, it was her first time at fight week. First time in front of the cameras at a UFC event, and on short notice. Opponent Maycee Barber has been a media darling for the UFC since she arrived on the Contender Series. She’s the local favorite.
Cifers, however, got a call to step in for Maia Stevenson at UFC Denver just a few weeks ago. The North Carolina native had fought towards the end of September, notching her fifth straight win. Now, she’s set to make her UFC debut. An experience, Cifers told reporters including Cageside Press on Thursday, that is “pretty exciting. Really looking forward to it.”
‘Shockwave,’ as Hannah Cifers is otherwise known, admits she was “kind of surprised to get it on short notice,” but she still “got really excited about it. Little bit nervous.” If those nerves were apparent in front of the cameras, it’s likely she’ll be much more at home in the cage on Saturday.
As for her response to the call from the UFC? Forget about opponent or location. “It was just pretty much automatic, I said yes.”
Luckily, she wasn’t banged up from her win in September, a first round finish over Kali Robbins. “I felt good after the fight,” she said, “so nothing really bugged me or anything.”
Obviously Maycee Barber has had the spotlight heading into UFC Denver. But asked if she was being overlooked, Cifers stated that “they just have to get to know me. See me when I fight. Go from there.” She admits that Barber’s “a good fighter. It’s going to be a good fight.”
As for the potential for fireworks, she certainly feels they could happen. Still, she’s a little in awe of all this. That much is clear. “I wasn’t expecting it to come that quick, right away,” she admitted. She’s not a fighter who maps out her career, but rather takes it “one fight at a time.”
That next fight goes down at UFC Denver on Saturday, November 10 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Also known as UFC Fight Night 139, the card airs live on FOX Sports 1.
