Maycee Barber opens up on UFC health scare in first interview since hospitalization: 'Really upsetting'
Maycee Barber is still working through the details of what caused her late withdrawal from UFC Vegas 107's main event.
The top-ranked flyweight contender is feeling better physically after being rushed to the hospital this past weekend just minutes before she was supposed to walk to the Octagon to fight Erin Blanchfield. Though a bit discouraged and sad, Barber remains more frustrated than anything else. In her first interview since the incident, she joined "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Wednesday to reflect on the fateful moments before UFC Vegas 107's main event was canceled. She's still unsure where things went wrong.
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"I was in the back warming up, and obviously people also were asking about the weight cut just because of me missing weight, and why I missed weight and all of that," Barber said. "Again, I'm not quite sure what went wrong, but something happened during the weight cut that the coaches and [my nutritionist] Tyler [Minton] called that off. They didn't want me to keep cutting. They felt that if I kept cutting, I was going to end up in the hospital.
"The rehydration was fine. Everything was great, I felt good on fight day. And then I was warming up — and to be honest, that's really all that I remember, is warming up. Then I remember being in the back of an ambulance and that's really all that I remember. But I do know that I've cut the same amount of weight before, I've done everything the exact same as this week. So I'm not really sure what happened or what's going on, but [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] and Dr. [Jeffrey] Davidson and all the doctors at UFC, they're trying to get me the best doctors and the best care."
On fight night, Blanchfield revealed that she was told by Campbell that Barber suffered a seizure in the locker room right before walkouts. Barber clarified Wednesday that she'd never had a seizure before and is set to travel for further tests and exams to help determine what went wrong with her health.
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Ultimately, she does believe there was a correlation between this and her failed weight cut.
"To be honest, we don't know if it was a seizure," Barber said. "We don't know that it is that, because there were no doctors necessarily in the room. I've seen videos of what happened. I've seen everything, and doctors have seen videos, and they're not saying, 'Oh, it was 100% that.' They're just trying to figure out what it was. So I've done CT scans, I've done MRIs, I've done multiple tests already.
"I've done the exact same [weight-cutting] process, I've worked with Tyler for years and years, and we've never encountered something like this, so I think that it's what made the cut challenging. Now we're trying to get to the bottom of it, because again, that can't happen. One, I can't be missing weight from something like that, and also I cannot have an outcome with a fight like that. I can't be trying to walk out for a fight and then not make it there. It was really upsetting."
Barber added that she is not comfortable at present sharing what she saw on the video of the incident.
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Blanchfield took aim at Barber after the fight fell apart at the eleventh hour, calling her unprofessional. Blanchfield clarified her comments to Uncrowned on Monday, stating on "The Ariel Helwani Show" that she was mainly referring to Barber's half-pound weight miss. Blanchfield added that she felt Barber needed to get her life in order, citing various outside-of-the-cage issues Barber's had in recent years.
"I don't think Erin's been through anything really difficult," Barber said in response. "I can't say that 100%, but she's young — I mean, we're both young — but I think that I've had a lot of life thrown at me. I think I've been through a lot of things. Injuries, sickness, health issues, losses, wins. I've had a lot of experience within the UFC and just within life, and I think that is a maturity that I've been able to accomplish. I'm not quite sure that she has the same maturity, and for her to go out and say that — also, there's a lot of emotions. She's getting ready to walk out. There's probably some nerves there, and all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh, you're not walking out.' And I'm sure that she was upset, but the reality is she walked away with a show [purse], a win [purse] and a percentage of [my] purse. I walked away with a bunch of health issues and nothing.
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"I think that she did just fine. She could turn around and fight next week if she wanted to. I'm going to be working on this for a while. And I know that the UFC is behind me and they're doing everything they can to help me get through this and to help me get back to where I need to be, but for her to say that I'm unprofessional and I need to get my life in order — yes, I need to get my health in order, because I've given everything to the sport because I'm a professional. I have given everything I have inside my body to this life and to being the best I can possibly be. It's not always easy, and I wish the best for her career and I wish the best for her health and her life, but I wouldn't wish this on anybody. It's frustrating, it's challenging, and I think that she should learn to have a little bit of compassion and understanding.
"You never know when something is going to happen in your life. So I wish her nothing but the best, but I think that's very immature of her."
After making it through a second canceled fight camp for a potential Barber fight, Blanchfield has repeatedly said she's permanently moving on from Barber. Ideally, she'd like to fight someone ranked above her for her next bout, eying the likes of Natalia Silva or former champion Alexa Grasso.
Barber fully intends to get her health sorted out before returning to the Octagon. Still, if a Blanchfield matchup does ever materialize, she's even more determined to come out victorious after this latest chapter in their rivalry.
"I think that there is the history. I think that we're building this where there's going to be a lot of things she said, there's things I've said, and I think that's what builds fights," Barber said. "I think it's a perfect fight. It might be a cursed one. It might be one of those fights where it may never happen. But if I ever get the chance to, I promise you that I will beat Erin Blanchfield, and I will finish her, and I will hurt her."
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