Maycee Barber is the fighter to watch at UFC Jacksonville
The UFC returns to ABC this weekend with a sleeper of a card featuring some very fun and exciting matchups. One of those is a flyweight bout between contenders Maycee "The Future" Barber and Brazil's Amanda Ribas, who will feature in the co-main event.
Barber is currently the No. 11-ranked flyweight who started her career at strawweight with Legacy Fighting Alliance, going 4-0 before being featured on Dana White's Contender Series. Barber would finish Jamie Colleen to earn a contract and debut at UFC Denver, successfully finishing Hannah Cifers. Barber had a hype train behind her, vowing to become the youngest champion in UFC history, but that was dashed after her first loss and the injury that came with it.
Barber moved to flyweight and finished JJ Aldrich and Gillian Robertson, but lost to veteran Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246 and injured her knee in the process, which kept her out of action for over a year. Barber returned and lost to current champion Alexa Grasso, but has since joined Team Alpha Male and won four straight against Miranda Maverick, Montana De La Rosa, Jessica Eye, and most recently Andrea Lee at UFC San Antonio.
Maycee Barber can start to tap into her championship potential with a win over Amanda Ribas
Ribas, who trains out of American Top Team, is the No. 9-ranked flyweight after spending most of her career at strawweight. Ribas was the smaller promotions Jungle Fight and Max Fight strawweight champion, going 6-1 before joining the UFC. Ribas won five out of six against Emily Whitmire, Mackenzie Dern, Randa Markos, Paige VanZant, and Virna Jandiroba before moving to flyweight. Since her move up, Ribas is 1-1, most recently beating Viviane Araujo at UFC 285.
Both fighters are virtually identical in height and reach and both have a decent striking and ground game. If Barber can pick up a victory against Ribas, she would love to get that win back against the current champion.
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UFC Jacksonville: Josh Emmett vs. Ilia Topuria takes place on Saturday, June 24, 2023, live from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your news and highlights.