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Women’s Flyweights

#13 WFLW | Miranda Maverick (9-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. #14 WFLW | Maycee Barber (8-2, 3-2 UFC)

ODDS: Maverick (-135), Barber (+115)

This has a case as the most interesting fight on the card, as the UFC has decided to pit its two most physically imposing flyweight prospects against each other in a hard fight to call. Barber earned a UFC contract via Dana White’s Contender Series shortly after her 20th birthday and seemed fairly certain that she was destined to be the youngest champion in UFC history. If nothing else, that confidence served her well in her first few UFC bouts. Between her determination and physicality, Barber overcame some rough moments to mostly run over Hannah Cifers, J.J. Aldrich and Gillian Robertson. Roxanne Modafferi was clearly set up to be the stepping stone for “The Future” to become a true contender, but their January 2020 bout went about as poorly as possible for Barber. A torn ACL that kept Barber out of action for a year got all the headlines, but Modafferi got the best of the fight both before and after the injury, exposing all the gaps in her counterpart’s game despite being on the wrong end of a massive gap in athleticism. Barber’s return in February was a mixed bag. While she seemed to have some right ideas regarding not completely selling out on aggression, nothing much worked in her attempts to be technical. It was also concerning that Alexa Grasso, a former strawweight, won a lot of clinch exchanges against Barber. However, Barber did once again assert her physicality in the third round, enjoying her best success when she decided to throw her new approach out the window and started swarming Grasso in pursuit of a knockout. There is a world of potential for Barber given her mentality and her physical tools, and there is also a lot for her to work out in order to live up to her own expectations. For someone who has seemed to be a promotional favorite, it was surprising to see the UFC give her a tough bounce-back fight against Maverick.

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With Barber’s recent struggles, Maverick has essentially stepped in and taken her spot as the young physical force with the potential to be a top contender. Maverick came up the prospect ranks almost purely as a wrestler, but she has shown some impressive striking in her two UFC bouts to date. While she can still be rote or stiff at points, Maverick throws plenty of power, as evidenced by her crushing Liana Jojua’s nose to the point of forcing a doctor stoppage. In comparison to Barber, Maverick feels like a fighter who just needs experience much more so than a complete overhaul. There are still cracks in her game, however, mostly on the defensive side. For all her power as an offensive wrestler, Maverick has struggled to keep the fight standing against some of the more physical forces that she has faced in turn. While Robertson is a talented grappler, it was still a bit of a surprise to see her have as much success as she did hanging with Maverick on the mat, given that the Missouri native figured to be the much stronger fighter. There are holes that Barber can exploit, and it will be interesting to see if she can do so and stall Maverick’s rise through the flyweight ranks.

This should be fascinating. Maverick’s obviously the much more complete fighter at this point. Barber’s best success is built completely around horsepower, while Maverick has a much more thought-out approach that happens to be backed by legitimate power. However, the physicality on both sides turns that dynamic around a bit to where it might actually favor Barber. She is much less of a thinking fighter and still at her best as a “doer,” as the fight against Grasso showed. If Barber comes out with enough aggression to make Maverick uncomfortable, she will probably be the much more effective fighter if this bout goes completely off the rails, whether or not she can find a finish. With that said, unless she can shock Maverick with a burst of pressure, it is also difficult to watch the Grasso fight and think that Barber can win this one consistently; a lack of form led her to losing a lot of the clinch and grappling exchanges against lesser athletes like Grasso and Modafferi, so it seems likely that Maverick can rely on grinding control if everything else starts to go south. This should be a fun one thanks to the rare level of power for this division, but the pick for Maverick to walk away with the clear decision win.

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