Maycee Barber is on a win streak again and she expects the good times to continue to roll.
Barber won UFC Vegas 52 Saturday. She was less than one month away from her 24th Birthday. Barber beat Montana De La Rosa by a unanimous decision. She has now won two straight since suffering back-to-back losses to Alexa Grasso and Roxanne Modafferi, and she spoke to the media backstage at UFC APEX in Las Vegas about the recent adversity she’s had to overcome.
“I feel like that was something that I’ve always had that fire in me,” Barber said. I’ve always wanted to be like I’m gonna go out here and dominate, finish, and beat these girls up and walk through and wreck them. It was obvious that sometimes you lose your way, like when I tore my leg, tore my ACL, and then losing. My mom wrote me this post. She said, “When it gets dark that’s when the stars shine brightest .”
“So I definitely got to reignite that light and let it shine tonight and yeah, the old me it never left, it was just a little bit hidden, but it’s definitely starting to shine through a lot more now.”
What made Barber’s performance on Saturday even more important is the fact that her win over Miranda Maverick last July was highly controversial, with fighters and media questioning the judges’ decision.
Barber answered a question about how she handles outside negativity. She cited her past experience with a UFC prospect, which she was able to fast-track to UFC.
“I’m sure I’m going to be the best person in the world,” Barber stated. It’s only that sometimes it gets a bit harder. It’s not that I am old. I’m 23, and I was raised in the UFC. This is my 13th fight. I had one amateur fight and then I went to pro and my whole goal was to get to the UFC so I knew that going through LFA and going through the Contender Series was to get to the UFC, so it was putting a bunch of pressure on myself.
“Literally I was injured the moment I arrived at the UFC. That was also my first loss and my first concussion. I learned all that from the greatest stage of the world .”
Barber used to regularly boast that she would be the youngest champion in UFC history, a goal that is now out of reach, but she has no regrets about the first impression she made with the fans.
“No. I wouldn’t go back to change any aspect of who I am,” Barber stated. Barber said, “I am still the same person who walked that path. I will continue doing that.” I believe in myself.
” I am a champion. I know this because I will destroy these girls. It’s taking time and studying all the techniques and things, but I know I can fight. I also know that my heart is a champion. .”
