Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Maycee Barber will be out for around 9 months recovering from a complete ACL tear suffered in her fight with Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246.
We witnessed one of the biggest MMA upsets in a long time on Saturday night when +600 underdog Roxanne Modafferi completely dominated -1000 favorite Maycee Barber at UFC 246, winning the fight 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. Anyone that really follows Roxy rather than just judging her on her librarian appearance knows she’s a crafty veteran with a severely underrated overall game. Since joining Syndicate MMA several years ago she’s enjoyed a career renaissance, and just the latest cherry on top was scrubbing the UFC’s wannabe champ Berber across the canvas for 15 minutes.
Detractors point to a knee injury that Berber seemed to suffer after the first round that she tried to fight through until the final bell. In between the second and third round, Nevada doctors examined her knee which was quite an unusual moment. Typically fights aren’t stopped due to possible leg injuries, and many fans questioned whether this was a naked example of sexism in the sport. A dude would never suffer this indignity!
Have you ever seen something like this before? Ridiculous. #UFC246 pic.twitter.com/duvz2iSIEA
— MMA mania (@mmamania) January 19, 2020
Welp, turns out the doctor had a reason to be concerned because according to ESPN Maycee Barber has suffered a complete ACL tear of her left knee.
”We think she injured it in the first 10 seconds,” [Maycee’s father] Bucky Barber told ESPN. “She stepped on Roxanne’s foot as she backed up and felt a pop. You can see the knee give out on the side. She went back and started fighting and trying to do things and I noticed she was flat in a way I’ve never seen before.”
We joked on Twitter that the ringside physician didn’t have the MRI eyes necessary to sort out what was going on, but he obviously had the gist of what was happening: Berber’s ACL was tearing in half as she attempted to fight on it. Her corner probably should have stopped her from going back out there for round three, but that certainly doesn’t seem to match the general level of intensity and can do spunk exhibited by Barber in everything she did.
Now she has a 9 month forced vacation on account of it, as well as the loss.