Maycee Barber will return from a year-long layoff to fight Alexa Grasso at UFC 258.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] is set for her octagon return.
Barber faces [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] on Feb. 13 at UFC 258 on Feb. 13, which does not yet have a location or venue, the promotion announced Tuesday.
Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who suffered a fully torn ACL in her first-career loss to Roxanne Modafferi last January at UFC 246, will return after a more than year-long layoff. Prior to that, the “Dana White’s Contender Series” graduate scored stoppage wins in her first three UFC fights.
Grasso (12-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has split her past six appearances and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Ji Yeon Kim in her flyweight debut at UFC on ESPN+ 33 in August.
While Maycee Barber plans on being cautious with her rehab, she’s not ruling out a return by the end of the year.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] is hopeful she can fight again this year.
Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) tore her ACL during her decision loss to Roxanne Modafferi in January, marking the first loss of her professional career.
Two weeks ago, Barber was able to hit the mats for the first time since undergoing surgery in February and is expected to travel to Las Vegas next week to continue her rehab at the UFC Performance Institute.
“It feels so good to be back,” Barber told MMA Junkie. “I was able to do some (physical therapy), (hit) some mitts, but that was the first time being able to do any sort of wrestling technique. It feels so good to be back. Just even in that environment where you can step on the mat – that was something I was raised doing. So to have that be a break for me, especially with the whole virus and everything – I couldn’t even go to the gym, so it was really nice to be back.
“My left leg is my injured leg and that one has about 25, 30 percent less strength than my right leg, so we’re getting there. It’s still a work in progress. It’s still a bit sore. I wasn’t running for a while, but I just got cleared to start running again so now I’m back to starting to run. So overall, it’s pretty good.”
While Barber plans on being cautious, she’s not ruling out a return by December if rehab continues to go well for her.
“We’re thinking August, September, I should be able to be back fully training and start a camp, so hopefully that’s the goal,” Barber said. “I’d like to fight by the end of the year. But again, with this kind of injury, it’s not one that I want to re-do the whole surgery or rehab or anything.
“So (I’m) trying to be smart and making sure that all the doctors are happy with how it is – mobility, strength, everything before just saying, ‘Yeah, let’s fight,’ because I want to make sure that I’m not going to go through this break again, and I’m not going to go through the whole recovery process again.”
Maycee Barber is looking at a nine-month absence after she has surgery, but she remains confident in her goal of becoming the youngest UFC champion.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] will go under the knife next week.
The UFC flyweight prospect is expected to have surgery next Monday to repair a torn left ACL. Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) sustained the knee injury during her decision loss to Roxanne Modafferi a little over a week ago at UFC 246. The defeat to Modafferi marked the first professional loss for the 21-year-old Barber.
During a Monday appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Barber opened up about suffering the injury and her first defeat.
“I did it in the first round,” Barber said recalling the moment she injured her knee. “It didn’t hurt really bad until the second round, but I did it in the first movement I did. I, like, stepped on her foot in the first round, and I over shifted and overstepped, and it popped. It was like, ‘Oh, no. That’s not good.’ But it was not also terrible.
“I knew I had to fight through it, so I just kept going. By the second round, I was sitting down, and when I stood up from the stool, I was like, ‘This is not good.’ But I didn’t tell anybody in the first round. I didn’t tell my coaches, because I was trying to hide it. I was trying to keep it from them, because I didn’t think it was that bad. As I stood up from the first to second round, it was like, ‘I can’t. This is really bad.'”
It was clear Barber was impaired during the fight. The Milwaukee native believes the unfortunate injury played a role in her performance.
“I understand there has to be a winner and a loser,” Barber said. “Unfortunately, (UFC 246) was not my night. Regardless of the leg, obviously, I truly feel it plays a factor in my performance.
“I know that, and I’d love to go back and show that to everyone else, show what I know to everyone else. But at the end of the day you can’t control the things that happen, but you can control what you choose to let them do in that situation. I wanted to push through and show that I’m not just ‘I need to have a perfect day to fight.’ It was a very (imperfect) day, and I wanted to fight and did.”
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Days removed from the event, Barber’s father posted on Instagram a similar thought, but maybe with a different tone. Many took the post as Barber’s father discrediting Modafferi and attributing the result solely to the injury.
Barber’s father caught a lot of heat on social media for his comments. Maycee expected nothing different from her father and doesn’t pay attention to the critics.
“It doesn’t bother me, because every dad is going to have a certain reaction, and that’s the way he’s going to react,” Barber said. “I’m his daughter, and I went out there, and I fought. He wants to justify, and he wants to be like, ‘No, she didn’t lose because she had this leg thing.’ Which, true or not, which it is, that’s his view, that’s him trying to protect and prove.
“He’s always going to be on my side. He’s going to fight to the death, and I do appreciate that. You can’t expect to be in this life and not have thick skin, so what people say about or what people think, yeah, it sucks, but I don’t read stuff about it. I don’t read things unless other people send them to me. I try not to pay attention to them because everybody has their own opinion, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion.”
A pivotal moment occurred early in Round 2 when Maycee Barber clutched her knee after falling to the canvas. (USA TODAY Sports)
Barber expects to be out of action for mine months, rehabbing from the surgery she plans on getting next week. She’s made clear many times she wants to be youngest champion in the history of the UFC – a record currently held by Jon Jones, who became champ at age 23.
Despite the major injury setback, Barber still thinks she can make her dream come true.
“By the time I’m done with the surgery and this rehab, I will be 22 still, so I’ll have a little over a year to achieve that,” Barber said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to do that. I truly believe that I’m on the track to do that, and this is just a mountain that I was presented, and I have to climb it.
“It’s going to make me better in the gym, and it’s going to make me stronger and more mentally prepared for when I do reach the title fight. So I’m looking forward to it.”
The Nevada Athletic Commission has released it’s full list of UFC 246 medical suspensions.
[autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] is facing a lengthy medical suspension as a result of his UFC 246 loss to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].
Cerrone, a former UFC title challenger, was defeated by McGregor on Saturday due to strikes just 40 seconds into their headliner. As a result of damage suffered from a kick, punches, and even a trifecta of shoulder strikes, “Cowboy” is facing a lengthy 180-day suspension.
McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), on the other hand, walked away from the main event unscathed.
The Irishman wasn’t the only fighter to walk away suspension-less. Co-main event participants [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] and [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] were among six other fighters who won’t be mandated to sit out.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag], who suffered an apparent ACL tear vs. [autotag]Roxanne Modafferi[/autotag], was handed a 180-day suspension. Pending doctor clearance, she could return sooner than July.
[autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag], [autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag], [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag], [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag], and [autotag]J.J. Aldrich[/autotag] are also looking at potential 180-day suspensions for injuries suffered in their respective bouts.
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UFC 246 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
MMA Junkie acquired the full list of medical suspensions from the Nevada Athletic Commission, which you can see below:
J.J. Aldrich: Suspended 180 days or until right hand x-ray is cleared by physician; also suspended 21 days with no contact for 14 days
[autotag]Sabina Mazo[/autotag]: No suspension
[autotag]Justin Ledet[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
[autotag]Aleksa Camur[/autotag]: No suspension
[autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag]: Suspended 60 days with no contact for 45 days
[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag]: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Sodiq Yusuff: Suspended 180 days or until right foot x-ray is cleared by physician; also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Maycee Barber: Suspended 180 days or until left knee MRI is cleared by orthopedic physician; also suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days do to laceration on left side of forehead
Roxanne Modafferi: No suspension
Anthony Pettis: Suspended 180 days or until right foot is cleared by orthopedic physician; also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Diego Ferreira: Suspended 180 days or until right knee MRI is cleared by orthopedic physician; also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
[autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag]: Suspended 21 days
[autotag]Brian Kelleher[/autotag]: No suspension
Maurice Greene: Suspended 180 days or until right elbow MRI and right foot x-ray are cleared by orthopedic physician; also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
[autotag]Aleksei Oleinik[/autotag]: Suspended 45 days with no contact for 30 days
Raquel Pennington: No suspension
Holly Holm: No suspension
Conor McGregor: No suspension
Donald Cerrone: Suspended 180 days or until nasal fracture and possible mild orbital fracture are cleared by maxillofacial physician; also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Conor McGregor’s victory leaves a lot of questions to be answered. And what about Maycee Barber’s stuning loss and Kanye West moment?
Welcome to “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. In this week’s episode, “Gorgeous” George, “Goze” and John Morgan unpack the ramifications of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]’s quick TKO win over Donald Cerrone in his return fight at UFC 246, as well as an odd post-fight situation that played out.
SHOW RUNDOWN:
We got through an entire McGregor fight week with zero antics, zero drama, nothing crazy from “The Notorious” one. Is this a new, reinvented McGregor moving forward? And if so, what do we think of that?
All right, so now that McGregor got the victory – and in dominant fashion, no less – he has a plethora of options in front of him: [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] rematch? [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]? [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]? [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] trilogy? A boxing match? It’s clear what UFC president Dana White wants. But what will actually happen?
Speaking of which, [autotag]Floyd Mayweather[/autotag] is in the UFC’s plans for 2020 and vice versa, according to White. What could this possibly mean for McGregor and others, and is this something we want?
The odd man out in all of the talk about McGregor and the UFC lightweight title picture is [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag], who is probably the rightful No. 1 contender after champion Nurmagomedov and Ferguson fight in April. White admitted that he and Gaethje are not on the same page. What’s the right move here with Gaethje?
Outside of McGregor-Cerrone, perhaps the biggest story coming out of UFC 246 was [autotag]Roxanne Modafferi[/autotag]’s huge upset of star prospect [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag], who was dominated in her first loss. To boot, the 21-year-old Barber suffered a torn ACL during the fight. And afterward, she gave us a Kanye West moment by stealing the mic to address the crowd before Joe Rogan could interview Modafferi – which was weird, even if she meant well. What do we make of all this?
For answers to all of those questions, watch Episode 12 of “Spinning Back Clique.”
UFC 246 went from bad to worse for star prospect Maycee Barber.
UFC 246 went from bad to worse for star prospect [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag], who suffered a full ACL tear in her first professional loss.
According to ESPN, Maycee’s father, Bucky Barber, said they think Barber injured her knee in Round 1 of her fight with [autotag]Roxanne Modafferi[/autotag] before tumbling from a grazing punch in Round 2.
Barber (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) held her knee on the way down and struggled with mobility for the remainder of the fight. After the end of the second round, a ringside doctor for the Nevada Athletic Commission examined Barber’s knee, proceeding to nonchalantly to tell the referee that she had a “small, partial ACL tear” but was fine to continue.
Modaferri, who was the biggest underdog on the UFC 246 card, would go on to defeat Barber via unanimous decision.
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Speaking at the post-fight press conference Saturday, UFC president Dana White was just as confused as everyone at the events that transpired with Barber in between Rounds 2 and 3.
“So weird,” White said. “I know, man. I don’t know. It was weird. Where’s Hunter at? Did you ever find out what that was about? He wanted to check her knee. All right.”
Barber, 21, is expected to be out for about nine months.
UFC 246 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Thoughts and analysis of the biggest storylines coming out of UFC 246, which took place Saturday in Las Vegas.
What mattered most at UFC 246 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
* * * * *
1. Conor McGregor’s flawless effort
It doesn’t get much better than that if you’re [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag]. He didn’t get hit with a single strike by [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag], connected with a bevy of diverse offensive attacks and won the fight in just 40 seconds.
This wasn’t a one-shot knockout like the Jose Aldo fight. It was nearly three times longer, but thoroughly dominant, and showed “The Notorious” is still as dangerous as he’s ever been.
Of course it’s easy to poke holes in the outcome. Cerrone is historically slow coming out of the gate, doesn’t take damage all that well and is known to crumble under pressure. He’s still a high-level fighter, though, and he’s never lost a fight as quickly as he did to McGregor.
After 15 months off, this was the perfect comeback scenario for McGregor. If he stays focused and commits to his “2020 season,” he couldn’t ask for a better momentum-builder.
After every event, fans wonder whom the losing fighters will be matched up with next.
With another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker for UFC 246’s most notable fighters.
Those fighters include [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-14 MMA, 23-11 UFC), who suffered a first-round TKO loss to Conor McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the welterweight headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as well as [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (22-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) and [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC).
* * * *
Maycee Barber
Antonina Shevchenko
Should fight: [autotag]Antonina Shevchenko[/autotag] Why they should fight: The hype of Barber took a critical hit when, as a massive favorite, she faltered against Roxanne Modafferi and suffered a unanimous decision loss.
Fortunately for Barber, this fight will only serve as a learning experience. She battled through the adversity of a cut and a knee injury but still managed to go the distance. At 21, she can only grow from this moment, but the outcome certainly pushes back her timeline of wanting to be the youngest champion in UFC history.
As far as her next move, almost any fight would be appropriate for Barber in the women’s flyweight division. It remains to be seen how long her injuries will keep her out, but when she’s ready, a matchup with Shevchenko (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who experienced a similarly disappointing outcome against Modafferi not long ago, would be a good fit.
Anthony Pettis
Alexander Hernandez
Should fight: [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag] Why they should fight: For the first time in years, Pettis is sitting on a two-fight losing skid. His UFC record is even at 9-9, and now there’s questions about what the future holds for “Showtime.”
Pettis still has a number of fights left on his UFC contract, so anyone clamoring for him to go elsewhere is being premature. It’s hard to imagine he’s in any position to pick fights, though, so he may have to take what the UFC gives him.
That could mean having to take a fight against another upstart lightweight contender like Ferreira, and Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is just that. “The Great” faltered the first time he had a marquee fight against Donald Cerrone in January 2019, but he’s matured and picked up a win since then. Perhaps he gets a different result against Pettis, who would need to get a victory to prove he still has something left in the tank.
Donald Cerrone
Stephen Thompson
Should fight: [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] Why they should fight: Watch the video above to see why Cerrone should fight Thompson (15-4-1 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) next.
The best facts and figures to come out of UFC 246, which saw Conor McGregor knock out Donald Cerrone in the main event.
The UFC’s first event of 2020 went down Saturday with UFC 246, which took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and with a main card that aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
In the main event, former two-division UFC champ [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) made his glorious return to the octagon when he stopped [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] (36-14 MMA, 23-11 UFC) by TKO just 40 seconds into the welterweight headliner. With the win, “The Notorious” achieved a knockout in his third different weight class.
For more on the numbers to come out of the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 40 post-event facts to come out of UFC 246.
UFC 246’s live gate total was the fourth highest in company history.
Betting favorites went 6-4 on the card. One fight had even odds.
Total fight time for the 11-bout card was 1:51:03.
Main card
Conor McGregor
McGregor improved to 2-1 in welterweight competition.
McGregor has earned 19 of his 22 career victories by knockout. He’s earned 17 of those finishes in the first round.
McGregor has earned eight of his 10 UFC victories by stoppage.
McGregor became the second in UFC history to earn knockout victories in three different weight classes. Jared Cannonier also accomplished the feat.
Cerrone fell to 6-5 in UFC welterweight competition.
Holly Holm
[autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has earned four of her six UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] (10-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has suffered six of her eight career losses by decision.
Oleinik (58-13-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) became the first in MMA history to earn victories in four different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s).
Oleinik has earned 54 of his 58 career victories by stoppage. That includes all seven of his UFC wins.
Oleinik has earned 46 of his 58 career victories by submission.
Oleinik’s six submission victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied with Stefan Struve for second most in divisional history behind Frank Mir (eight).
[autotag]Maurice Greene[/autotag] (8-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.
Kelleher (20-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has earned 16 of his 20 career victories by stoppage.
[autotag]Ode Osbourne[/autotag] (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by submission.
Diego Ferreira
Ferreira’s (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak in lightweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Tony Ferguson (12) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (11).
[autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (22-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) was unsuccessful in his return to the lightweight division.
Pettis fell to 4-8 in his past 12 UFC appearance dating back to when he lost the UFC lightweight title in March 2015.
Pettis suffered the first true submission loss of his career.
Preliminary card
Roxanne Modafferi
[autotag]Roxanne Modafferi[/autotag] (24-16 MMA, 3-4 UFC) improved to 9-5 since her initial UFC release in November 2013.
Modafferi has earned 15 of her 24 career victories by decision.
Modafferi has alternated wins and losses over her past seven fights.
[autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had her eight-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of her career.
Barber fell to 2-1 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in March.
[autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag]’s (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak at featherweight is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Arnold Allen (six), Zabit Magomedsharipov (six) and Alexander Volkanovski (six).
[autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] (11-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.
[autotag]Tim Elliott[/autotag] (15-10-1 MMA, 4-8 UFC) fell to 2-4 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in December 2016.
Elliott has suffered five of his eight UFC losses by decision.
Elliott’s 39 takedowns landed in UFC flyweight competition are third most in divisional history behind Demetrious Johnson (58) and Wilson Reis (44).
[autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.on.
[autotag]Aleksa Camur[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.
[autotag]Justin Ledet[/autotag]’s (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since September 2017.
Ledet fell to 0-3 since he dropped to the UFC light-heavyweight division in July 2018.
[autotag]Sabina Mazo[/autotag] (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of her UFC victories by decision.
[autotag]J.J. Aldrich[/autotag] (8-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fell to 1-2 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in March 2019.
Aldrich has suffered two of her three UFC losses by decision.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 246 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $165,000.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 246 event took home event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $165,000.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC 246 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
The full UFC 246 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $3,500 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,000; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2020 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
