The last time the MMA world saw Maycee Barber was when she was pulled out on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance minutes before her scheduled fight with Erin Blanchfield back in May. It was a scary scene that left many concerned for her health and future.
Fast-forward five months, and Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is booked to return to the octagon, as she’s set to take on Karine Silva at UFC 323 in Las Vegas on Dec. 6. The 27-year-old assures her health issues are now behind her, even though there’s still not much clarity about what happened minutes before her fight against Blanchfield.
“The UFC sent me to several doctors, and they ended up sending me to a neurologist in Boston, and although they didn’t have an exact pinpoint answer of, ‘Hey, this is exactly what happened and this is why it happened and all of that,’ they had a solution,” Barber told MMA Junkie. “I never thought I would be a person that would take medication. They did put me on medication and that was the solution. I haven’t had issues since then. My last even that I’ve ever had I believe was June or July, so after all of that I’ve been completely fine, and healthy. I got the clearance from the neurologist, and I was clear to continue to train and fight and all of that.”
Barber didn’t feel comfortable disclosing details about her health issues, but did reveal her last problems with this condition were in June or July, and since then, she’s been healthy.
Barber resumes her career on a good note. She’s on a six-fight winning streak, with her last victory coming in March 2024 when she defeated former UFC title challenger Katlyn Cerminara. She feels a solid win over Silva could get her a title shot or at least a title eliminator bout.
“My goal is the belt,” Barber explained. “I feel a good finish over this opponent it continues my win streak, and it solidifies my spot and if it’s not this fight then it’s the next fight that I see myself for sure getting a title shot. That’s something that I’ve been working for.”
