LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 18: Maycee Barber (R) bleeds from a cut on her face at the end of round two in a flyweight bout against Roxanne Modafferi (L) during UFC 246 at T-Mobile Arena on January 18, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Modafferi won the bout by unanimous decision. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
Maycee Barber will fight Alexa Grasso next at UFC 258 but she also has her eyes on Valentina Shevchenko
Chael Sonnen spoke at length about how great Maycee Barber is ahead of her next fight at UFC 258.
The Future, as Barber is called, came into her last fight undefeated in her MMA career. However, she picked up a serious knee injury in the clash against Roxanne Modafferi and lost the battle via unanimous decision.
Barber was out for more than a year recovering from the problem but she is back and wants to win UFC gold.
The 22-year-old had a target of becoming the youngest UFC champion and usurp Jon Jones. She is 22 and has just a year in hand to achieve the feat but first she has to get over Alexa Grasso.
Valentina Shevchenko is on Barber’s mind but The Bullet is expected to face Joanne Calderwood next. However, Sonnen believes a win for Barber at UFC 258 would send the Women’s Flyweight division into chaos:
“That’s a problem if you are Joanne Calderwood. Because if Maycee is saying this in the pre-press conference, she has got me here repeating it now, she goes in and takes care of business with Grasso, grabs the microphone and calls and she stays very consistent, that’s going to be a problem.
“Right now it looks as though UFC and company would like Calderwood to fight The Bullet. But Calderwood, by process of elimination, believes she is going to get The Bullet.
“Not because she has done a damn thing to make anybody interested in that fight and it is not interesting. I think it is the right fight to make, I see where that works out on paper, I see the Calderwood story.”
Sonnen brought up how nobody was creating the story for Calderwood and pushing her for the Shevchenko fight.
He claimed that she wasn’t doing the pushing enough and for Shevchenko, she didn’t really care who she would face.
The Bullet is considered as one of the greatest female MMA fighters of all time, and she has been incredible in the UFC Flyweight division.
Sonnen added that a win for Barber on Saturday would be a huge problem for the UFC team as well:
“If Maycee Barber is calling her out, goes and gets the win in the co-main event, sticks to the script.
“When the boys get back into the office and they are thinking about trying to make a fight for Valentina Shevchenko and the whole world is talking about Maycee vs Calderwood, how do you put Calderwood vs Valentina?”
It is going to be an interesting fight for Barber as a win should put her closer to the title. However, she is returning from a serious knee injury and the Future has to be a little careful of her movements against Grasso.
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