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Roxanne Modafferi feels she is the woman who can deal Maycee Barber her first career loss.
After an impressive performance on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in 2018, Maycee Barber has been fantastic in the UFC. She has gone 3-0 inside the Octagon, with all of those wins ending by TKO.
“The Future” will put her undefeated record on the line against Roxanne Modafferi this weekend at UFC 246. For her part, Modafferi is satisfied with this booking, given how it can also lead to some much-needed exposure.
“That’s really what I need,” Modafferi said of the matchup in a pre-fight interview with MMA Junkie. “Let’s be honest, I’m not exactly scary. I mean, I have a lot of experience, but you know, I’m not frightening, so these people like Antonina Shevchenko, Maycee Barber, who kind of explode on the scene and TKO people, people watch them. So I’m glad to have that kind of opponent so I can get a little notice, too.”
A veteran of 39 fights, Modafferi is banking on her experience against Barber. She also feels that the UFC is using her as a stepping stone to boost Barber’s stock, which she isn’t allowing to happen.
“I’m just excited to fight somebody new; I’ve rematched so many people, I’m glad I’m not rematching anybody,” she said. “I think Maycee is a good fight for me. She has a lot of hype behind her, so therefore I’m kind of getting a little hype. So yeah, I have a lot of techniques to show, so that’s really more of my motivation, showing my skills.
“I’m thinking that they want her to climb the ranks and fight somebody in the top 10, and I’m somebody in the top 10 to fight,” Modafferi added. “I’m coming off a loss, but that’s fine, that’s cool. I’ll derail her hype train, nicely.”
Modafferi and Barber will close off the night’s preliminary fights, as the card takes place on Saturday, January 18th in Las Vegas.