Maycee Barber believes she will fight for the UFC women’s flyweight title within her next three fights.
On June 24, Barber extended her UFC winning streak to five fights by securing a second-round TKO against Amanda Ribas. The win at UFC on ABC 5 was arguably the best of her career, giving fans another reason to view her as a legitimate title contender.
During an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Barber was asked how many more wins she might need before getting a title shot. The 25-year-old responded by saying:
“I really think it’s all timing. If the fights are gonna play out how they’re gonna play out, or how we think they might play out, then who knows, maybe they’ll give me a shot against Alexa [Grasso]. If not, I’ll probably be one or two [fights away].”
On March 4, Alexa Grasso shocked the world by dethroning Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC women’s flyweight title. Grasso’s first title defense is expected to be an immediate rematch against Shevchenko, but nothing has been confirmed.
Maycee Barber details why Rose Namajunas might struggle at flyweight
Rose Namajunas is coming off a disappointing performance where she was dethroned of the UFC women’s strawweight title against Carla Esparza. As a result, Namajunas decided to change things up and move to flyweight, with her first fight at 125 pounds being scheduled for September 2 against Manon Fiorat.
During the same interview on The MMA Hour, Maycee Barber had this to say about Namajunas changing divisions:
“I don’t know if she’s [Namajunas] gonna do well [at flyweight]. Rose from a technical standpoint, phenomenal. I think she’s an incredible fighter. I just think she’s really small. I think she’s small for the division, and I remember when I previously trained with her, she’s not some physical girl.”
Barber continued:
“She’s a technical fighter. She’s highly skilled, but I feel like the girls at 125, there are several girls in that division that have the power and have the I’m just gonna break you. They have the power she doesn’t possess, and I feel like Rose is one of the fighters when she’s on mentally, she’s on. If she breaks, she breaks, and she can get beat. I feel like that power in the 125 division could break her.”
Fiorot is the number two-ranked women’s flyweight. Therefore, Namajunas would be in the title shot conversation with a win at UFC Paris. Meanwhile, Barber is ranked number eight as she waits for the perfect path to a UFC title fight.
Rose Namajunas will make her flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot at UFC Paris on Sept. 2., sources confirmed to @marcraimondi.
News of the bout was first reported by MMA Junkie. pic.twitter.com/wm7fw431g1
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 23, 2023
