Maycee Barber

The significance was mostly about steadiness: this was another fight where Barber won rounds consistently instead of relying on a late surge or a single finishing sequence.

Key moments

• Won a unanimous decision over Katlyn Cerminara after fifteen minutes.
• The result followed the 2023 stoppage of Amanda Ribas.
• It reinforced Barber's position as a serious ranked flyweight contender.

Barber's best recent finish came against Ribas, where she turned the fight into a rougher, more physical exchange and stopped Ribas with elbows and punches in round two.

Key moments

• Finished Ribas by TKO at 3:42 of round two.
• The stoppage earned Barber a Performance of the Night bonus.
• It came three months after the split-decision win over Andrea Lee.

Lee gave Barber a competitive three-round fight, but Barber did enough in a close split decision to keep the post-Maverick rebuilding effort moving.

Key moments

• Beat Andrea Lee by split decision in San Antonio.
• The close nature of the result put extra pressure on Barber to separate more clearly in her next outing.
• She answered it with the second-round stoppage of Amanda Ribas.

Barber outpointed former title challenger Jessica Eye over three rounds at UFC 276 in what felt like a clear changing-of-the-guard fight.

Key moments

• Won by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
• Third straight victory after the back-to-back losses to Modafferi and Grasso.
• Eye retired in the Octagon after the fight.

Barber controlled long stretches against De La Rosa by forcing clinch exchanges and staying the busier fighter. She had to survive a few tricky grappling moments, but the overall pressure was enough to carry a clear decision.

Key moments

• Used clinch pressure and elbows to own much of round one.
• Escaped danger after De La Rosa threatened from top position in the second.
• Won a unanimous decision after fifteen minutes.

Barber's first professional defeat came when Modafferi used veteran poise, top control and damage to break the hype train at UFC 246.

Key moments

• Modafferi controlled key grappling stretches and won clearly on the cards.
• Barber was badly bloodied during the fight.
• A doctor checked Barber's injured leg between rounds after the second.

Barber kept pushing her name up the flyweight ladder by stopping Robertson in Boston. Robertson hunted takedowns early, but Barber reversed position, hurt her badly on the feet and poured on hooks until the referee stepped in.

Key moments

• Robertson opened with grappling pressure and a single-leg attempt.
• Barber reversed position against the cage and landed the harder shots.
• The standing barrage forced the TKO at 3:04 of round one.

After a competitive opening round, Barber's pressure, knees and punches broke the fight open in the second.

Key moments

• First UFC fight for Barber at flyweight.
• Finished Aldrich at 3:01 of round two.
• Showed the same pressure-finishing style that drove her debut win.