UPDATE: Barber now expected to be replaced by Tracy Cortez.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) main events continue to change.
MMA Mania has confirmed with sources that the No. 4-ranked Flyweight contender, Maycee Barber, is out of her scheduled main event bout against the No. 7-ranked Rose Namajunas at UFC Denver in two weekends (Sat., July 13, 2024). The reason for Barber’s withdrawal is currently unknown. The promotion hopes to keep Namajunas on the card.
The fight would have been Barber’s first UFC headliner since she debuted in November 2018 after winning a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series. “The Future” has won six in a row after she suffered her second career loss (14-2) at the hands of the now-champion, Alexa Grasso, in February 2021.
UPDATE: MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reports that Tracy Cortez is now targeted to replace Barber. UFC is close to finalizing a new opponent for Cortez’s original opponent, Miranda Maverick, per Heck. The pair were supposed to fight at UFC Vegas 94 the weekend after UFC Denver (Sat., July 20, 2024).
The former two-time Strawweight titleholder, Namajunas, returned to the win column in her last time out when she earned a unanimous decision win over Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 89 in March 2024. Based in Denver, Colorado, Namajunas has never fought in the state in her 18-fight career (12-6).
The current UFC Denver line up can be seen below.
- 125lbs.: Rose Namajunas vs. TBD
- 170lbs.: Mike Malott vs. Gilbert Urbina
- 170lbs.: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov
- 170lbs.: Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa
- 145lbs.: Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez
- 185lbs.: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage
- 125lbs.: Viviane Araujo vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- 125lbs.: Luana Santos vs. Mariya Agapova
- 185lbs.: Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski
- 155lbs.: Marquel Mederos vs. Nazim Sadykhov