UFC flyweight Maycee Barber was approximately 30 minutes from walking to the Octagon on Saturday before a “medical emergency” ultimately pulled her from the bout.
Barber (14-2) was scheduled to face Erin Blanchfield (13-2) in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas. Barber, the No. 4-ranked flyweight, told ESPN on Tuesday that a medical complication in her locker room during warmups led commissioners to cancel the 125-pound contest.
Due to the timing of the emergency and the process of pulling Barber, the official cancellation of the bout didn’t happen until after the UFC already had run a video package and fans were expecting Barber’s walkout music. Blanchfield told media members on Saturday that she was told Barber had suffered a seizure. Barber said that is yet to be determined.
“We’re not entirely sure [what happened],” Barber told ESPN. “There was an event that happened in the back when I was warming up, and the doctor, the commissioners, everybody saw it. The commissioners were asking if I was OK. I was saying that I was, and they didn’t think that I was.
“It looked like my autonomic nervous system might have been having an issue, it looked like a ‘pseudo-seizure,’ is what I was told, but I don’t have an answer. We need to run more tests.”
Barber, 27, said she felt fine Saturday prior to the complication. She missed weight by half a pound the day before the fight, but Barber said it felt like a normal cut and there were no obvious signs of medical issues during or after the cut. She was hospitalized Saturday evening and discharged Monday.
Barber also was hospitalized in 2024 for medical issues she has since said physicians still don’t completely understand. She is on a six-fight win streak but hasn’t fought since March 2024. She was forced to pull out of a previously scheduled fight against Rose Namajunas in July 2024.
Barber said the UFC already has been active in connecting her with a variety of specialists. There is no timetable for her return, considering the actual issue still needs to be identified. Barber said she is grateful to be alive, despite the obvious frustration of the situation.
“I see people commenting, ‘Oh, I’m glad it happened to her and not to someone who is relevant,’ and I feel that’s pretty heartless,” Barber said. “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. I wouldn’t wish this situation, this unknown, on anybody. I’ve been in the UFC for eight years, and I’ve been a professional my entire career. I’ve always given it everything I’ve got.
“From being a young girl, this has been my dream. It was never part of my dream to get there to fight night and not walk out — to disappoint so many people and myself, it’s tough.”
