Barber (15-3) was caught with a nasty two-punch combo by Alexa Grasso in the Fight Night card’s co-main event, spinning around as she crumpled to the ground. Grasso, very much unaware of how badly Barber was injured, jumped on and locked up a rear-naked choke until the ref pried her off. The victoy came by knockout, not submission, as Barber was already out, and the lasting image was of Maycee Barber laying on her back, eyes open but clearly out of it.

In a statement following the fight, Barber admitted she didn’t remember much of what happened, but insisted her rematch with Grasso was still one of the best nights of her life.

Admitting that it was not the post she wanted to be making, Barber stated on video that “I wanted to come on here and say thank you to the UFC and thank you to Alexa for the opportunity. I wanted to go out there and get my opportunity to get my rematch and dominate and get the win back and unfortunately, it was not my night. I got caught and Alexa did an amazing thing. She’s a phenomenal fighter.”

“I don’t really remember a whole lot,” Barber continued. “All I know is every time I go on social media, I look like I’m dead and that’s not a very fun thing to see. So I’ve been trying to stay off social media but I also wanted to come on here and at least tell you guys that I am OK.”

“I am very blessed to live the life that I do. As tough as it is, going out there and being able to do that, what I did last night was still one of the greatest nights of my life. Despite all of that, that’s still one of the better nights of my life that I’ve ever had. I’ve had some pretty tough days so that was still one of the greatest days of my life. Being able to walk out there and being able to do what I’ve done.”

“I will be back, I’m going to heal up and put in the work and get back out there,” she promised. Barber went on to thank all those who supported her, thanking them for the “love and support.”

Barber saw a seven-fight win streak dating back to 2021 snapped in the loss. Her last two defeats have come at the hands of Grasso.

The post Maycee Barber Reacts to Brutal UFC Seattle KO: “Still One of the Greatest Days of My Life” appeared first on Cageside Press.

All six main card fights in Seattle, WA produced exciting finishes. The feature preliminary bout between Tofiq Musayev and Ignacio Bahamondes set the tone with a Fight of the Night winning blood bath. And one of the all-time GOATs of MMA, Demetrious Johnson, was announced as a 2026 UFC Hall of Fame inductee.  All-in-all, it may have been an exciting fight card, but many fighters are in dire positions in this week’s edition of What’s Next.

Israel Adesanya

(#14) Joe Pyfer seized his opportunity to catapult up in the rankings with his second round TKO thrashing of (#4) Israel Adesanya in the main event on Saturday. The finish earned Pyfer a fat performance bonus too. Adesanya has now lost four fights in a row, he’s been stopped in three of those bouts, and is winless since beating Alex Pereira in early 2023. 1-5 since early 2022 is a rough stat, whether Izzy was the champ during some of those bouts or not.

Izzy has a lot of options for his next fight. The 36-year-old needs a win against respectable competition, though there’s a possibility, although slim, that his next opponent may not be ranked.

Moving forward, Israel should be paired up with the loser of the Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brendan Allen fight on June 6. The timing is a little funky but either fight could make sense. Allen has won two in a row, and is currently coming off a win against Reinier de Ridder into the -+bout. He would have lost to an unranked fighter in Edmen, so could potentially be in a similar, position to Izzy. Shahbazyan is currently riding a 3-fight win streak with two, first-round finishes. So, he would have faltered off of a large test, and against a grappler.

Could be a bit of a stretch, so backup pick here is MVP. Page is 4-1 in the UFC and on a three-fight win streak. Page was last in action at UFC London last week, defeating Sam Patterson, but if he decides to move up to 185lbs., like he has twice before, MVP vs ‘The Stylebender’ could be a fun one.

Adesanya’s next fight:  Edmen Shahbazyan vs. (#6) Brendan Allen Loser or (#13 WW) Michael Page 

Maycee Barber

(#4) Alexa Grasso unleashed a nasty bombardment on (#5) Maycee Barber midway through the first-round rendering Barber out on her feet before sliding in a sub for good measure. Devastating loss for Barber as she loses step up fight/title eliminator, got her seven-fight, five-year-long win-streak snapped. Maycee also falls to 0-2 vs. Grasso.

Barber’s next fight should be against Tracy Cortez. A fresh name, a relevant ranking and the last fighter to take on Erin Blanchfield.  Barber has been unsuccessfully matched up against Erin twice before, with both bouts being cancelled before the fighters could make it into the octagon. Timing is a little off for this matchup however, as Tracy fought back in November of last year. But she’s 2-2 in her last four. A good backup would be Rose Namajunas, who is a little bit of a stretch and coming off a loss to (#1) ranked Natalia Silva in late January. Main card matchups here, PPV or fight night.

Barber’s next fight: (#8) Tracy Cortez or (#6) Rose Namajunas

Niko Price

Michael Chiesa made quick work of fill-in Niko Price, securing a rear naked choke in the first round of a picture-perfect retirement fight on UFC Seattle’s main card, Saturday.  Price is now on a four-fight losing streak and has gone 2-7 in his last nine fights with the promotion. Niko has looked rough, in his last stretch of fights, but at least for UFC Seattle he truly was a last second replacement.

Price announced shortly before the fight that it would also be his last, retiring alongside Chiesa.

Should Price change his mind (he didn’t even get mic time post-fight), Chiesa’s original opponent, Carlston Harris, had to withdraw due to visa issues. But he’s on a two-fight skid, against Santiago Ponzinibbio and Khaos Williams, and both fighters stopped Harris. Carlston is also 4-3 and has been with the UFC since signing in 2021. Niko and Carlston are at a similar level, and this could be a decent scrappy fight that could land nearly anywhere on a fight night card.

Price’s next fight: Retirement, Carlston Harris

Julian Erosa

Lerryan Douglas dropped hometown favorite, Julian Erosa, multiple times on the way to landing a first round finish at UFC Seattle Saturday. Erosa has now lost two in a row although the first loss was a fight of the night unanimous decision loss to now-ranked, Melquizael Costa. Julian had won three in a row before this current skid.

In Julian’s next fight he’s got to continue to lean into those chaotic fights he’s so good at. Giving him the loser of Cub Swanson vs. Nate Landwehr is a very fun matchup either way that goes. Those two fight on April 11th, so timing would be great. Swanson, a 25-fight UFC vet hasn’t fought since stopping Billy Quarantillo in the third round in a crazy standup war back in late 2024. Cub’s 2-2 in his last four, brings a unique standup style and experience. His opponent Nate Landwehr is a fellow leather-slinger, but not as tenured with the UFC, at just 35-5 with the promotion. Nate is coming off a two-fight losing streak and was finished in the third round of both fights (against Doo Ho Choi and Morgan Charriere).

So, Nate would be 1-4 in his last five or Cub would be 2-3 in his last five. Good matchups that could easily be on the main cards of fight nights or a feature prelim (high action stand up fight).

Erosa’s next fight: Cub Swanson vs. Nate Landwehr Loser

Mansur Abdul-Malik

Yousri Belgaroui crumpled Mansur Abdul-Malik with a well-placed knee to get the TKO in the third round of their hard-hitting middleweight affair Saturday. The loss is the first of Mansur’s 11-fight pro MMA career. The 28-year-old 2024 Contender Sedries product is now 3-1-1 since being signed.

Abdul-Malik is still young in his career here, no need to panic. Give him the loser of Azmat Bekoev vs Tresean Gore. Timing for that fight would be perfect as its on April 4th. Tresean is 5-5 as a pro MMA fighter and 2-4 under the UFC banner. The unofficial The Ultimate Fighter Season 29 runner up, has had a rough go at it with the promotion, currently riding a two-fight skid and missed weight ahead of his last bout against Rodolfo Vieiera. Azamat is 20-4 as a pro, so more experience, but is just 2-1 in the UFC. And Bekoev lost to Yousri Belgaroui via third round stoppage in his last fight too. Honestly, either of these guys would make sense for Mansur and offer a good scrap.

Abdul-Malik’s next fight: Azmat Bekoev vs. Tresean Gore Loser

 Kyle Nelson

Terrance McKinney fought like the stove was on back home, as he always does, to open the main card of UFC Seattle on Saturday. This time delivering a wild high kick finish in under 30 seconds against the Canadian, Kyle Nelson. Kyle has now fully cooled off from his 2023-2024 hot streak where he went 3-0-1. Nelson has gone 1-2 in his last three and was finished in the first round of both losses. To make matters worse, Nelson missed weight in that first loss of the trio of fights, to Steve Garcia and missed weight ahead of the bout. So, he’s been at lightweight the last two bouts.

Looking back to a previous edition of losers here, make Kyle Nelson vs. Michael Johnson. This would be a great fight. And a good test for both fighters at the current positions in their respective careers. Johnson is 32-fight veteran of the UFC but hasn’t fought Nelson. Two standup guys, and Nelson is coming up from featherweight so maybe he’d be able to hang with Johnson’s hand speed. Could see this landing anywhere on a fight night main card or feature prelim.

Nelson’s next fight: Michael Johnson

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Grasso was looking to work her way back to the title she once held, which had returned to the hands of Valentina Shevchenko at the end of their trilogy. Barber, long considered a future champ at 125lbs, was looking to finally earn her title opportunity.

The pair went right at it in Saturday’s headliner, exchanging punches early. Barber held center, with Grasso outside, in the opening minute.

The pair felt out their distance for a bit, before the end came in shocking, violent fashion. Grasso connected with a left hand, tagging Barber. As Barber went down, almost doing a splits, she spun around, and Grasso jumped on the neck, locking up the rear-naked choke.

Barber was already done, the finish a knockout not a submission with the ref already on the way in, but Maycee was barely conscious and wound up chasing the leg of the ref, thinking the fight was still on. She then wound up flat on her back, eyes open, blinking but not responsive for a good minute while the cageside physician checked in on her.

To be fair to ref Mike Beltran, he wasn’t slow getting on top of things- the finishing sequence simply happened that fast.

Luckily, Barber was able to sit upright and stand for the result being read, though it was a scary moment given her medical history. As for Grasso, a huge victory for the former champ, who called for the UFC to visit her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Official Result: Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber by knockout, Round 1, 2:42

The post UFC Seattle: Wild Finish As Alexa Grasso Knockts Out Maycee Barber, Then Chokes Her appeared first on Cageside Press.

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UFC Seattle is the landing spot for Alexa Grasso versus Maycee Barber 2, with former UFC  women’s flyweight champion Grasso having seen her hand raised in the duo’s first encounter. The event takes place on March 28, 2026 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.

News of the booking was first reported by Twitter/X personality Krazy Kev.

Grasso (16-5-1) has not won a fight since her shock victory against Valentina Shevchenko in 2023. The pair would go on to complete a trilogy, going 1-1-1 with the second fight ending in a draw, and the third seeing Shevchenko reclaim her 125lb title.

Mexico’s Grasso returned to action at UFC 315 last May, dropping a decision against flyweight contender Natalia Silva.

Barber (15-2), who lost a decision to Grasso at UFC 258 in February of 2021, has not  suffered defeat since. She’s won seven straight, including a December victory over Karine Silva. Barber has also battled health struggles that saw her pulled from a fight with Erin Blanchfield moments before she was set to walk out to the cage, after reportedly suffering a seizure.

Alexa Grasso is tied for the #3 spot in the women’s flyweight division, per the official UFC rankings. Maycee Barber sits at #5.

UFC Seattle sees the promotion visiting the home of the “Seattle Sound” for the fifth time in its history.

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GOT IT DONE ✅@MayceeBarber earns the Unanimous Decision victory at #UFC323! pic.twitter.com/DepDTmERTE

— UFC (@ufc) December 7, 2025

Whatever concerns that Maycee Barber would be unable to continue her professional career were dispatched as she returned looking no worse in her first fight since 2024.

The first round saw the two open the fight with several boxing exchanges before a takedown by Silva led to a rear-naked choke attempt and back control that lasted the second half of the round.  While “The Future” was able to avoid serious danger, Silva was able to maintain the better position to assertively take the round despite a late reversal and flurry from Barber.

In the second round, a more aggressive Barber sought to take the fight to the ground early. After escaping a brief guillotine attempt, Barber completed a takedown but the two entered a scramble where Silva landed a second foul with a kick that connected on the chin of Barber and led to a break in the action. Despite Barber’s contest of the call, referee Mark Smith did not take a point away and had the two resume the fight on the feet rather than return to the grounded position.

Barber immediately took Silva down upon the resumption of the action and began landing powerful ground and pound on a defensive-minded Silva.  The two had a hectic exchange where Barber briefly had the back and top position before Silva went for a triangle attempt that led to ending the round with a few seconds of her in full mount.

Silva began the final and deciding round by coming forward but Barber was the one throwing the more powerful shots.  Silva completed an assertive takedown attempt in the third round and used it to go for multiple leg lock and heel hooks.  Barber would escape the attempts and take the top position.  Silva would go for a submission attempt and Barber backed out of guard and finished the found trying to land leg kicks to the grounded Silva.  Silva got back to her feet in the closing seconds but Barber was able to land a late takedown attempt at the final bell to try to steal the round.

The judges scores were 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Maycee Barber.  The fifth ranked Barber extends her win-streak to seven and completes her return to competition following several health struggles over the past year.

Official Result: Maycee Barber def. Karine Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

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View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by @mayceebarber

“Not what I had planned for a Sunday post. Thank you to everyone for the prayers & support I owe an apology to @ufc @mickmaynard2 @danawhite @seanshelby & @blanchfield_mma ** PS my life is not messy this is just a bad hand. We will get to the bottom of it all and be back 🤍”, she posted in the caption.

Barber had been set to make her return to the octagon following a layoff of over a year on Saturday night. Seconds after the intro package played in the UFC APEX the commentary team announced that Barber was not ready to make the walk.

Commentators and fans were all equally as confused about what could be going on with Barber. Whispers of a possible panic attack or nerves came from the internet and even Daniel Cormier questioned what could possibly be the issue.

Minutes later the commentary team announced that the fight was scrapped due to a medical issue with the 27-year-old and Bruce Buffer announced it to a disappointed crowd.

UFC’s Megan Olivi found Blanchfield in the back and asked her about what her thoughts were.

“Hunter came in saying that she was having a seizure and she’s having medical issues and that she’s not going to be able to fight. I knew once I saw him that it wasn’t something good,” Blanchfield told Olivi.

“I’m just a little disbelief.”

She also said that she would not consider rebooking against Barber for a third time. The two were matched up in 2021, but Barber withdrew from that bout as well.

“No. My coaches right away were like ‘Don’t entertain her. She’s not on your level’,” she said.

“Super unprofessional.”

The post Maycee Barber Posts First Statement Following Medical Withdrawal appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Fight Night event at the UFC Apex was already an underwhelming card; Barber and Blanchfield, along with Mateusz Gamrot, represented just about the only star power.

During Saturday’s broadcast, coming back from commercial just prior to the main event, the UFC broadcast team announced that Maycee Barber was not prepared to walk out. That immediately brought up the question of whether the fight would move forward, and whether there was some kind of technical delay. Instead, after a second short break, the announcement that the fight was off came.

According to the broadcast, a medical issue suffered by Barber left her unable to be cleared to compete. Blanchfield, interviewed on air by Megan Olivi, revealed that UFC Exec Hunter Campbell had informed her that Barber had suffered a seizure.

It’s the second time Blanchfield has seen a fight with Barber fall through, and it seems she won’t entertain a third booking. “My coaches right away were like ‘don’t entertain her, she’s not on your level,'” she stated. Blanchfield also stated that she had thought the fight was in the clear, despite Barber missing weight by a half pound on Friday.

The post UFC Vegas 107 Main Event Cancelled Moments Before Walkouts appeared first on Cageside Press.

Working her way up to a title shot! 💥@Blanchfield_MMA is back in action this Saturday as she headlines #UFCVegas107! pic.twitter.com/JVQ02mIhdV

— UFC (@ufc) May 26, 2025

It is the very nature of the fight game to tie two people together.  Competitors need adversaries, champions need challengers, and more.  Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber are a pair that the fanbase organically pitted together and it’s very obvious why.  Similar in age, stature, and record, both Barber and Blanchfield have been highly successful and have been touted as the proverbial “next big thing.”

Blanchfield, 26 years-old with a record of 13-2, has torn through the competition in her UFC run since joining the company in 2021.  Going 7-1 in the company, “Cold Blooded” has very much looked the part of future champion in stoppages of the likes Jessica Andrade, Molly McCann, and JJ Aldrich.  She’s also proven her credentials in victories over vets like Miranda Maverick, Taila Santos, and Rose Namajunas, the latter of which being her second headlining bout.

Among the big differences in their UFC careers will be the headlining experience in favor of Blanchfield.  The New Jersey native has been the main event three times in her UFC career and gone 2-1, besting former champions Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas, with her lone loss coming to recent title challenger Manon Fiorot.  She has also seen far more cage time in 2024, with two five round fights going into this key bout.

She can thrown down with the best of em 👊

Don't miss @MayceeBarber in the #UFCVegas107 main event on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/3LrleCVW3H

— UFC (@ufc) May 26, 2025

Barber has been a UFC darling since she debuted at 20 years-old on the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018 by comparison.  An admittedly outspoken prospect, the 27 year-old with a 14-2 record quickly rose up the ranks before running into adversity in back-to-back losses against Roxanne Modafferi (in which she suffered a torn knee early in the bout) and future champion Alexa Grasso.

But while her goal of being the youngest UFC champion did not come to fruition, she has strung together an absolutely blistering run in besting veterans Andrea Lee, Montana De La Rosa, Jessica Eye, Amanda Ribas, and Kaitlyn Cerminara.  The streak had her on the cusp of title contention in 2024 when unfortunately medical issues forced her out of a bout with headliner with former champion Namajunas in July and has kept her out of the Octagon for more than a year come fight night.  But while her absence couldn’t have come at a worse time, her comeback arguably couldn’t have come at a better one.  Reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko recently vanquished another foe, and an impressive victory on Saturday for Barber would put restore her to the short list for potential title challengers for the belt she’s been chasing for years.

The intensity 👀@blanchfield_mma vs @MayceeBarber

[ #UFCVegas107 | TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 9pmET ] pic.twitter.com/khnXNDzPS2

— UFC (@ufc) May 30, 2025

When surveying the division, it is clear that the UFC’s plans for the title will determine the next move for the top-ranked women at flyweight.  Should the promotion go with the dominant strawweight champion in Zhang Weili for the next title shot then Saturday’s winner could see a title eliminator against fellow surging dynamo Natalia Silva.

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