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Maycee Barber explains why Roxanne Modafferi is a tougher fight for her than Paige VanZant.
For the last few months, Maycee Barber has been calling for a fight against Paige VanZant. VanZant, however, turned it down because of the supposed disrespect shown by Barber.
At UFC 246, “The Future” will now face Roxanne Modafferi, the number eight-ranked women’s flyweight contender and an opponent whom she feels is a better fighter than “12 Gauge.”
“Roxanne is way better of a fighter than Paige VanZant,” Barber told Submission Radio. “And there’s a lot of women out there who are a tougher fight. Paige VanZant just did the marketing well, and that was because the UFC got behind her on that.
“But like I’ve said multiple times, she didn’t hold up her end of the deal and she didn’t’ continue to progress as a fighter, she just continued to progress on the more marketing and media side of that. So, yeah, there’s a lot more girls that had been working there their butts off a lot more than Paige has.”
UFC 246 is also the talked about date for Conor McGregor’s return. If things go as planned, “The Notorious” will face Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone for his comeback more than a year later.
Being in the same card as McGregor is something Barber is looking forward to.
“Honestly, that was a big dream of mine,” she said. “You never know when Conor’s going to be done fighting honestly, and that is something that I could not have asked to be on a card than with Conor McGregor.
“Like, that was a goal of mine and a dream of mine, and I didn’t want to get too invested in that and just completely have my mind set on that, because you cannot tell Conor McGregor what he’s going to do and you can’t just plan on it.
“So, I didn’t want to get hopes up too high, but that’s definitely been something that I really wanted to do, and I feel like it’s part of history,” Barber continued. “He’s one of the biggest in the UFC. He is the biggest in the UFC and in a lot of the fight world. And to be able to share a card with him and be on one, that is incredible.”
UFC 246 is scheduled for January 18th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The UFC has yet to finalize the card’s headliner fight.