UFC women’s flyweight Miranda Maverick has revealed why she didn’t want to fight fellow prospect Maycee Barber.
In a clash of under-25 future stars, Maverick and Barber will collide inside the Octagon on the main card of UFC Vegas 32 this weekend.
At just 24 years old, Maverick’s potential is off the charts. With an 11-2 MMA record and an unbeaten start in the UFC, Maverick is one to watch this weekend as she gets her toughest test yet.
Being almost a year younger than Maverick, Barber also possesses a promising future in the sport. However, she’ll be coming into this bout riding a two-fight losing streak. After going 3-0 in the UFC, back-to-back defeats to Roxanne Modafferi and Alexa Grasso have stalled her rise. With two young guns set to go toe-to-toe, both women are worth looking out for on Saturday night
But despite appearing to be an intriguing matchup for the fans, and providing Miranda Maverick with the chance to establish herself as the leading prospect in the 125-pound division, the Missouri native has revealed that she didn’t want Barber as an opponent.
“I (didn’t) want it,” Maverick told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference on Wednesday. “It was the only fight I didn’t want because I think we’re both very young prospects. I think we both have a future in the sport. She’s already on a two-fight losing streak. She’s going to be on a three-fight losing streak and now you’ve knocked somebody who could’ve been a very good prospect out of the division that’s very stagnant and has a bunch of older women. I think they should get some of the older women to fight some of these young prospects coming up instead of knocking us out against each other.”
Maverick added that, despite being an example of bad matchmaking because of their age and future in the promotion, their styles make it an incredible matchup that fans won’t want to miss.
“I just think it’s bad matchmaking from that perspective, (but) good matchmaking from the perspective of our own styles. It’s absolutely an amazing fight. It’s the fan-favorite fight. I knew that the first time I met her. The cameraman was like, ‘Go back in the elevator. Now, come back out. Let me videotape you meeting Maycee Barber.’ I was like, ‘All right, we already know what’s going on here, right? But it’s really good stylistically. I just wish we had been No. 4-ranked and No. 5-ranked, that kind of thing instead of No. 14 vs. No. 15 or No. 15 vs. No. 13 or whatever,” said Maverick.
While Maverick and Barber get set to entertain on the main card, top bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen prepares to welcome former champion T.J. Dillashaw back to action in Saturday’s headliner. Dillashaw hasn’t fought since his defeat to Henry Cejudo back in 2019, after which he was slapped with a two-year suspension following a positive test for EPO.
With the likes of Kyler Phillips, Adrian Yanez, Brendan Allen, and Andre Ewell all entering the Octagon at this weekend’s event, UFC Vegas 32 promises to be another great watch for the fans.
Which UFC Vegas 32 fight are you most looking forward to?
