Maycee Barer gave a brutal performance in all three rounds and won a close decision against Montana De La Rosa at UFC Vegas 52..
The 23-year-old prospect was dominant in the clinch as she continuously pressed De La Rosa against the cage, which set up some brutal punches and elbows from the inside. Barber never slowed her pace as she just continued to batter De La Rosa until the final horn with all three judges giving her the nod with 30-27 scores across the board.
” “It feels incredible,” Barber stated about her victory. “To be honest, I don’t have a specific call out but I know I’m going to be a champion one day. “I’m here for the belt .”
It was a war of positions against the cage with Barber forcing the fight into the clinch almost immediately with De La Rosa constantly fighting for underhooks as she attempted to reverse positions.
Barber began to unleash some vicious punches from the inside, including one that hit behind De La Rosa’s ear. It appeared that De La Rosa was temporarily shaken by the impact. Barber kept going, while De La Rosa tried to escape from a difficult position.
As the second round got started, Barber looked for the same strategy except this time De La Rosa was able to drag the fight to the canvas where she looked to showcase her grappling game. Barber finally slipped from De La Rosa’s grip, which enabled her to climb up the wall and start dropping elbows from within the guard.
Barber used the same tactics that worked best to press De La Rosa against her cage, throwing elbows and punches. Barber was careful not to allow De La Rosa to shift her hips to perhaps look for a takedown as she continued hammering away from the inside.
The damage continued to mount with Barber maintaining a relentless pace, and De La Rosa having no answers up until the end.
After suffering back-to-back losses, Barber has bounced back with two straight wins as she looks to continue her climb up the flyweight ranks with the momentum she’s now started to build.
