Maycee Barber feels she’s on the radar of champ Rose Namajunas, having fought one of the strawweight queen’s teammates in the past.
Denver, CO — At the historic UFC Fight Night 139, better known as UFC Denver, a fighter who was not yet born when the UFC debuted 25 years ago made her first walk to the octagon. Put on her first fight. And won in bloody, violent, and decisive fashion. Maycee Barber may have been fighting a little-known opponent in Hannah Cifers. But Cifers more than held up her end of the deal, coming in on short notice, but showing tremendous heart.
Speaking to the media including Cageside Press after the fight Saturday, Barber addressed both the bout, her close call at the scales, and more.
In regards to her performance on Saturday, Barber said that “I’m not going to be that person that’s like ‘wow I have a lot to change,’ because to everyone else in this world it probably looks pretty amazing.” However, she sees plenty of room for improvement. “To me, there’s a lot of things I want to change, and I know I need to especially as I continue to grow. I was really happy with the performance, but I can also look back and be like ‘there’s a lot of things I want to perfect.'”
Then there’s the weight question. Barber managed to hit the strawweight limit, but on the second attempt Friday morning at UFC Denver’s official (and only) weigh-ins. That extra hour was key. Barber explained that her weight struggle was something of a long story, and she’s planning to get on a nutrition plan and follow it to a T.
To do so, she’ll head out to the UFC Performance Institute almost immediately. “I’ve had some past nutritionists who have not led me down the right path, and I haven’t been able to reverse out of that til now,” she explained. “I’m actually going out to the PI tomorrow or Monday, flying out there and getting that figured out so I have easier cuts. But this cut was definitely the hardest I’ve ever had. But I pushed through, and I was not going to step on the scale without making weight. Getting that extra hour was what I needed, I needed all the way up until the last second, and we did it.”
Barber has consistently said she plans on becoming the youngest UFC champion, and that, at least right now, would mean crossing paths with Rose Namajunas. The strawweight champ happened to be in the crowd at UFC Denver. Asked about that, Barber said she wasn’t aware the champ was in the house. However, “she’s been at several of my fights actually. I fought one of her teammates, Audrey Perkins. She’s been in the crowd before when I fought, and when I’ve finished.”
With that in mind, “she knows who I am.”
You can catch the full UFC Denver post-fight scrum with Maycee Barber above.
