Maycee Barber’s decision to fight or not might have been taken out of her hands this past Saturday.
“The Future” was scheduled to fight fellow flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield in the UFC Vegas 107 main event, but the bout was cancelled at the last second when it was announced on the broadcast Barber was unable to make the walk out to the octagon. Details are still murky on what went wrong for Barber, with Blanchfield telling reporter Megan Olivi that she was told Barber had suffered a seizure moments before bell time.
Blanchfield later criticized Barber for the withdrawal, saying at the evening’s post-fight press conference that Barber is “a complete mess in every aspect of her entire life.” Barber responded in a statement Sunday, vowing that she and her team would figure out her issues and have her fit to compete again.
On Tuesday, Barber’s coach Cody Donovan issued a statement via Instagram absolving Barber of responsibility for the cancelled main event. According to Donovan, it was the coaching staff who made the final call to pull Barber from the fight.
See Donovan’s comments below.
“For the record, Maycee did not pull out of her fight,” Donovan wrote. “She refused to surrender in spite of what was happening to her medically. As a coaching staff, we decided to call the doctor in. Even as she begged us not to. What we saw was just too dangerous.”
Though most of Barber’s peers were sympathetic to her plight, her withdrawal faced extra scrutiny as Saturday’s bout was supposed to be her return to action after a nearly 450-day layoff. Barber was scheduled to fight Rose Namajunas in July 2024, but withdrew from that bout due to health issues, so pulling out of the Blanchfield fight has led to further uncertainty concerning the 27-year-old’s fighting future.
In Donovan’s view, Barber having to deal with adversity will only make her rise to the top that much more inspiring.
“I am proud of the bravery she showed in the face of a medical emergency,” Donovan wrote. “Most fighters would have ran for [the] door. When they tell the story of [Barber] this will be the Goliath that she got to overcome on her road to greatness. God is good.”
Mailbag. How dire a state is UFC in right now? And who would you like to see as champions this same time next year?
Correct. No Jon Jones, no problem. Fans recognize Tom Aspinall as the true heavyweight champion.
Warning. Matt Brown wonders if Jones is overplaying his hand in negotiations with UFC.
Compliment? When it comes to how Julianna Peña fights, Jon Anik calls her a “nasty f*cking prick.”
Noooo! Paige VanZant is out of her upcoming Power Slap title fight.
UFC 316 Media Day.
In the lab with the real heavyweight champ.
And how about Dominick Cruz’s breakdown?
Final spar.
Duh.
UFC Embedded.
The Fighter vs. The Writer. Damon Martin talks to Matt Brown about what to expect at UFC 316, what he thinks of Julianna Peña and Kayla Harrison, plus the never-ending Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall saga.
Ilia Topuria talking that ish.
Sick burn by Caio Borralho.
I heard that Nassourdine’s nickname is SNIPER
Now everything makes sense…the sniper is the one that nobody see! He is always hidden ♂️
— Caio Borralho (@BorralhoCaio) June 3, 2025
Crying.
Speaking of Michael Chandler.
RIP Jordan.
Rest in peace to the inimitable @jordanbreen. He was a massive influence on me in my formative years of covering MMA. Was so impressed by this brain and his ability to write and speak about MMA. Glad we had him on @AnikFlorianPod when we did but, man, I’d love a word now. ❤️
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) June 3, 2025
Sean O’Malley about to eke out a majority decision, confirmed.
UFC 316 artist series poster got O’Malley looking like Zordon.
Ben Rothwell vs. Alex Simon; BKFC Australia, July 18
Bec Rawlings vs. Jade Masson-Wong; BKFC Australia, July 18
Karol Rosa (18-7) vs. Nora Cornolle (9-2); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Torrez Finney (11-0) vs. Azamat Bekoev (20-3); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Andre Lima (11-0) vs. Felipe Bunes (14-7); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Nick Klein (6-2) vs. Andrey Pulyaev (9-3); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Rodolfo Vieira (10-3) vs. Tresean Gore (5-3); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Piera Rodriguez (10-2) vs. Ketlen Souza (15-5); UFC Vegas 108, Aug. 2
Last thing I’ll say about this, unless it was something truly trivial like she stubbed her toe or something (wait, that could really hurt!), I’m glad someone made the call for Barber not to fight. Whether it was a physical or mental issue or a combination of the two, clearly she was in no condition to compete that night and sending her out there in those circumstances would have been wrong. — Lee
Poll
Three days away, what’s your level of excitement for UFC 316?
If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.
