Maycee Barber isn’t looking to edge out a win on points when she enters the cage and she looks to win with emphasis against Erin Blanchfield at UFC Vegas 107. As she prepares to headline UFC on ESPN 68, Barber is taking part in all of the normative fight week proceedings and fielded questions by on-site reporters at the fighter media day. When touching on aspects of her preparations leading into this fight as well as what her intentions are for this contest, Barber said,
“I’ve been staying busy. I’ve been training. I’ve been working my butt off—whether it’s in the gym or at home, like with the health stuff. We’ve just been doing everything possible to get back to 100% and back here to be able to put on a performance.”
“I think that this is a perfect opportunity for me to showcase my skills, to get a finish and get a dominant win, and continue my win streak—put it at seven—and solidify my spot at the belt.”
“My goal in every performance is for people to want—not just this one, but every single one—I want them to be like, ‘Damn! She really goes out there and she goes for a finish. She goes out there to hurt these girls.’ And I think that’s what makes me dangerous. I don’t just want to go out there and fight these girls and win. I don’t want just a decision win. I want to go out there and hurt these girls, and make sure that they know that when they’re done with a fight with me, they never want to fight me again.”
Maycee Barber vs. Erin Blanchfield and the title challenger implications
Maycee Barber will test skills with Erin Blanchfield on May 31st in a clash that pits the number five ranked flyweight contender against the number four ranked 125 pounder, respectively. In a landscape where the number two and number three contenders in the division are coming off losses (Manon Fiorot and Alexa Grasso, respectively), this fight has a ton of divisional importance as far as creating a queue of title challengers for champion Valentina Shevchenko. While it seems like Shevchenko may next fight either number one contender Natalia Silva or strawweight champion Zhang Weili, the victor of Maycee Barber versus Blanchfield is certainly well positioned.
