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Maycee Barber: ‘I owe an apology' to UFC after seizure, late dropout

Maycee Barber: ‘I owe an apology' to UFC after seizure, late dropout

Reuters02-06-2025

June 2 - In an Instagram post Sunday, Maycee Barber commented on the last-minute cancellation of her UFC Fight Night main event against Erin Blanchfield due to a medical event.
Barber did not confirm in her post that she suffered a seizure, but a video showed her being wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher. One of the photos she posted displayed her with medical sensors attached across her body.
"Not what I had planned for a Sunday post," Barber wrote. "Thank you to everyone for the prayers & support I owe an apology to @ufc @mickmaynard2 @danawhite @seanshelby & @blanchfield_mma."
In an interview with ESPN, Blanchfield said she was waiting for her walkout music Saturday night at UFC Vegas 107 when UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told her backstage that Barber was medically unfit to fight.
"No one said anything until Hunter came in and told me she was having a seizure and that she wouldn't be able to compete," Blanchfield said.
Blanchfield blasted Barber, who had missed weight by half a pound the previous day.
"She needs to look at another division," Blanchfield said. "She needs to fix her life. She needs to just fix herself. I think she's a complete mess in every aspect of her entire life."
Barber, in her social media post, acknowledged Blanchfield's dig.
"PS my life is not messy this is just a bad hand," Barber wrote. "We will get to the bottom of it all and be back."
Barber was attempting to compete in a UFC fight for the first time since March 2024, in part due to other health scares. She was hospitalized for nine days in 2024 due to a combination of pneumonia, strep throat and a staph infection.
Barber vs. Blanchfield was billed as a fight between top-five flyweight contenders. Blanchfield told ESPN she would not consider accepting another fight with Barber.
--Field Level Media

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