Despite her best efforts, Maycee Barber was unable to land her desired fight with Paige VanZant next.
Instead, Barber will be taking on longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Roxanne Modafferi on January 18 from Las Vegas. It’s the same card Conor McGregor is rumored to make his highly-anticipated return on after over a year away. Speaking to Submission Radio recently, Barber explained why the fight with VanZant didn’t come together.
“They offered it to Paige at 125, she said no. From what I heard, she said she wanted a fight at 115 but she would need more time. So, as far as I know, it’s offered to her at 125 when she wants to take the fight at 125. And other than that, it’s kind of like, I’m just gonna keep doing what I do with my career, and when she decides to fight, we’ll fight.”
Despite claims of wanting a fight at 115 pounds, Barber doesn’t think VanZant will ever make that weight again. Regardless, she’s focused now on Modafferi, and moving up the ranks within the division in hopes of landing a title opportunity.
“Honestly, I don’t think she could ever make 115 again. And it’s been said multiple times that her family would not support that, and I can understand that, you know. Like, the cut to 115 does not make sense for her. Especially with her new addition.
“But honestly, I’ve moved past it. I’m focused on moving up through the ranks. And when she decides to fight – if she decides to fight, then I’ll still be here and I’m totally down to go and beat her up. Until then, I’m really not worried about it. I don’t care either way. My career will be successful no matter what, if I beat her up or not. That was kind of like a bonus – like, beat her up and prove a point. But that’s it.”
Barber went as far as to say that she believes Modafferi is a “way better” fighter than VanZant.
“Roxanne is way better of a fighter than Paige VanZant. 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.”
What do you think about Barber’s comments, comparing Modafferi to VanZant?
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