With the announcement that flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko will be coaching The Ultimate Fighter 32, and assuming they will be completing the trilogy shortly after, Barber hopes to be in the building for the bout.

“I think that given that it was announced that they’re going to be having the trilogy most likely I definitely want to be the backup for that fight,” Barber told reporters including Cageside Press at her post-fight scrum.

“I want my rematch and I think I’m the perfect person for it.”

Her sights are set on a rematch with Grasso. Their first bout went the champion’s way by decision at UFC 258.

“There’s a lot of other girls in the division that have some skill, but they’re boring fighters. I’m not a boring fighter and I know that, that would be the main event. That would be a title fight for sure, and it’d be a great one,” said Barber.

“There’s a big story behind that too. A rematch with Alexa Grasso would be huge.”

A rematch with the champion, a backup role in a title fight, but a main event is a must for the rising flyweight.

“I think that I deserve a main event spot. I’m 14-2, I’m 25-years-old, and I’m an exciting fighter. I’ve worked my butt off to get to here, and I wanted to finish this fight, but it was an exciting fight. I proved that I belong here,” she said.

“I don’t know why we gave Manon (Fiorot) and Erin (Blanchfield), two boring fighters, the main event spot. I don’t know if anyone really cares about that.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Maycee Barber above.

The post Maycee Barber Looking For Main Events And Title Shots appeared first on Cageside Press.

Barber came into the fight on a winning streak of five, with her most recent fight being her best, a violent ‘Performance of the Night’ finish over Amanda Ribas. Cerminara returned to face her after a year off since a loss to Manon Fiorot which ended Katlyn’s four-fight winning streak. With a ten year age gap between them, this fight represented a passing of the torch from her to Maycee ‘the Future’ Barber.

Maycee came out swinging hard to start the bout which prompted a takedown attempt from Cerminara, that Barber defended. Cerminara was able to control Barber in the clinch for a long period, showing Maycee’s inexperience there, though Barber hurt her on the break, and again after sprawling out Katlyn’s next takedown attempt. Cerminara may have even hurt herself from hitting her head on the canvas when that attempt got sprawled on. The first round had some wild exchanges in the pocket, most of which Maycee landed the bigger strikes in, giving her a likely 10-9 lead after five minutes.

The second round started with Barber doing well but then getting hit by a clean right hand when she got overconfident. Cerminara used sideways movement to get out of the way of many wild blitzes from her foe, who wanted to get on the inside and make the fight messy. Katlyn did a better job of avoiding that in the second round, keeping her distance with good footwork. Maycee still had some lands, but less so. With two minutes left Barber got her first takedown from the clinch, but Cerminara bounced right back up. Still, ‘the Future’ gained the rear body-lock from that exchange, which she held onto for almost a minute and landed some decent strikes with. She held onto the clinch most of the rest of the round, making it close going into the final frame.

Barber blitzed to start round three but Cerminara turned the tables by smothering her with the clinch and shooting a takedown, which failed. They both had moments, but Maycee had a big one with three hooks that connected on wild swings ninety seconds into the round. Barber then clinched up and after a minute got a takedown, but Katlyn used a leg entanglement to create a scramble and get back up. Cerminara did good things with her straight shots, but Barber just landed harder, from her body kicks to her hooks. She landed a takedown with ten seconds left, that Cerminara got right back up from, and the pair swung in the pocket for the last few seconds.

After a competitive fight, the decision was read out by Bruce Buffer. The judges awarded the winner unanimously, giving it to Maycee Barber, with two of them giving her all three rounds. Now on a six-fight winning streak, Barber likely is only one more win away from her first UFC title shot.

Official Result: Maycee Barber def. Katlyn Cerminara by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

The post Maycee Barber Notches Biggest Career Win Over Cerminara appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Obviously Alexa still has the belt so (this fight) would be a title eliminator and getting a title shot. When I finish Katlyn the gatekeeper, for me, that really sets me up,” Barber told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“I’m still coming for my rematch.”

Many believe that the next fight for Grasso will be the trilogy fight with former champion Valentina Shevchenko which would leave Barber on the outside looking in.

“Even if they do have their trilogy, if they’re scheduled to fight, I’d like to be the backup fighter or whatever we can make work. There’s injuries, there’s things that pop up, so I’ll be ready,” Barber said.

Barber has Cerminara to deal with at UFC 299. Cerminara has a tendency to use her cardio and distance to frustrate opponents and score well on the judges cards.

“More of what I look at is they’re decision wins. They’re not finishes, they’re not dominant, they’re just decision wins. She’s doing enough to win a decision,” she said.

“All the girls that she’s fought that have gone for a finish, specifically (Jessica) Andrade, she got finished. That’s what we plan to do. We’re going to go out there and finish. I’m not going out there to point fight with her. I’m going out there to finish her.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Maycee Barber above. She takes on Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 299 on Saturday night.

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