Maycee Barber isn’t impressed with Erin Blanchfield’s attempts at trash talk. She’s not too fond of her fighting style either.
Following a year-long hiatus, Barber will step back inside the Octagon this Saturday night (May 31) for a flyweight headliner against Blanchfield at UFC Vegas 107.
Sitting on a six-fight win streak, Barber is no stranger to some fiery trash talk ahead of her scraps, but ‘The Future’ has been uncharacteristically quiet in the lead-up to her long-awaited return.
At least, she was until Blanchfield decided to fire a shot at her flyweight foe, questioning Barber’s reliability after pulling out of a previously scheduled fight between the two in 2021.
“Yeah, a little bit of worry,” Blanchfield told MMA Fighting. “Because Maycee is someone that has pulled out of fights pretty frequently. She has a history of that. There’s always a worry but that could happen with anyone at the same time.
“A lot of the other top flyweights were already booked because they were booked [at UFC 315]. I think it just made sense and so far she’s still in the fight so hopefully it stays that way.”
Maycee Barber questions erin Blanchfield’s ‘Dumb’ comments
Barber quickly fired back at Blanchfield during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, taking aim at the New Jersey native’s “terrible fighting style.”
“I think [her comments] were dumb,” Barber said. “It doesn’t make sense for her to say I’m going to pull out when I have a history of pulling out of fights. I’ve only pulled out of two fights total, both for serious reasons. The first time, I tore my ankle in five places. It’s a weird thing to say.
“I think she’s just trying to find something negative to say about me because she can’t criticize my fighting style or marketability. The only thing she can say is that I might not show up—versus her, whose fighting style is terrible. There’s a lot you can say about Erin Blanchfield; she’s a boring fighter with a terrible fighting style.”
With Blanchfield and Barber holding things down as the fourth and fifth-ranked contenders in the flyweight division, Saturday’s scrap inside The APEX could produce the next title challenger for reigning 125-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko.
