After A Scary Main Event Cancellation, Can ‘The Future’ Win Her Comeback Fight?
Since joining the UFC in 2022, Maycee Barber has won her first five fights. These include wins over Amanda Ribas and Katlyn Chookagian. After withdrawing moments before her walkout against Erin Blanchfield, she appears to have her health back and is poised to show why she is a future title contender. Will ‘The Future’ remind people who she is, or will Karine Silva prove that she needed to take more time to recover against a dangerous opponent?
Barber has nasty elbows in the clinch; whether they're in the clinch or on the break, she is always trying to bust her opponent's nose. She has improved her takedown defense, though it’s still not the best. If Barber can get a takedown, she has significant ground-and-pound. She loves to brawl, and I think she will fight with something to prove in this one, after all the hardships she has had to endure with her health. Barber has excellent distance management and likes to utilize a dangerous head kick at the end of her combinations. I think she will overwhelm Silva, and when she gets hurt, she will seek the finish immediately. Her opponent likes to hit but doesn’t like to be hit, so if Barber can walk her down from the beginning, I see her getting her out of there in a dynamic finish.
Silva likes it when she can walk down her opponent and buzz saw them. She has good power, and if the fight goes to the ground, she can seek out submissions. Silva has 11% takedown defense, so she will need to circle away from the clinch that Barber likes to use to set up her takedowns. She doesn’t like it when her opponents are aggressive, and I think this is the worst matchup for her. Silva will need to show a whole new side of herself when she gets hit, not just crumble and stand on her feet and throw back. If she can catch Barber overextending and Britney too aggressive, Silva may be able to take her down, wear her down, and slow her down on her way to a decision victory.
Maycee Barber is still one of the most exciting prospects in women’s MMA. Being undefeated and overlooked will always give the young athletes a chip on their shoulder to prove themselves. This is a stylistically good matchup for her to make a statement and get that bad taste out of her from her last fight. Whichever way this fight goes, you're not going to want to miss it and all the other exciting action tonight, for UFC 323, with a main card start time of 10:00 p.m. EST.
