Maycee Barber (6-0) is a 20-year-old combatant who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In her next outing, Barber will clash with J.J. Aldrich at UFC Fight Night 148 on March 23.
As the match-up draws closer, here are five things that you might not know about the unbeaten prospect.
She has gone up a division.
Competing at strawweight was becoming an increasingly arduous ordeal for the pugilist. Her taxing weight control regime entailed a low-calorie diet consisting of approximately 500 calories a day during training camp. Barber recalled, “It was super bad, and I never reversed out of that diet.”After a series of tests were conducted at the UFC Performance Institute, Barber realized it was time to step up a division. The alarming results pointed to hormonal issues and reduced metabolism. Talking of her coaches’ reaction to her move to flyweight, Barber said, “They all see the difference and I’m just happier.”
She started training at a young age.
Barber is a lifelong martial arts fanatic. She first commenced training at the tender age of three, initially in karate. During her formative years, the Coloradan would try out wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu, as well as muay Thai and boxing. It was her combat sports enthusiast parents who first introduced their daughter to the fighting arts.Back in 2010, her mother and father opened their own martial arts academy in Fort Collins. When not studying at school, the fledgling fighter could more often than not be found honing her skills there. Today, although the 20-year-old also seeks training elsewhere, she still spends much of her time at her home gym, Fort Collins Martial Arts.
She has a lot of confidence.
Barber’s UFC tenure began with a debut second-round TKO win over Hannah Cifers at UFC Fight Night 139. Afterward, she had a talk with Dana White. “I told him that I was gonna be as big, if not bigger, than Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey and all of the stars he has,” said the confident fighter.It’s the fighter’s ambition to break the record set by Jon Jones as the youngest champion in the promotion’s history (23 years and eight months). Considering her high aspirations, it’s not surprising that the 20-year-old goes by the moniker “The Future.”
She didn’t go to college.
Barber had barely entered her teens when she set her heart on becoming a professional mixed martial arts combatant. Due to her chosen career path, the uber-prospect saw no point in pursuing a college education.In June 2017, the then 19-year-old took the first step on her professional journey. It was a victorious effort as she snatched a first-round armbar submission over Itzel Esquivel.