Jessica Eye vs Maycee Barber added to UFC 276
UFC 276, Adesanya vs Cannonier, has been adding some exciting match ups over the last couple weeks, as they already have two title bouts added to the card. There’s also a women’s flyweight bout going down at this event, showcasing former title challenger Jessica Eye (no. 12), who faces Maycee Barber (no. 14) on this night.
UFC 276 is to go down at International Fight Week on July 2, 2022, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Jessica Eye has been with the UFC for some time, having debuted in the bantamweight division when the promotion brought women over to their organization in 2013.
After going 2-1 through her first three bouts, she’d take a hard fall, losing her next four-straight.
However, following this skid, Eye would move down to 125 lbs, where she’d win her next three en route to a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko.
This bout would show us one of the more brutal knockouts we’ve seen in the sport, as the champion landed a beautiful head kick in round two (set up with a series of body kicks), KO’ing Eye on the spot.
Since then, Eye has gone 1-3, rebounding with a win over Viviane Araujo, and losing her last three-straight to Cynthia Calvillo, Joanne Calderwood, and fellow former title challenger Jennifer Maia.
Maycee Barber on the other hand, being the younger party by 12 years, of course came to the UFC more recently (2018), and quickly went 3-0 inside the promotion with three-straight knockouts. At this point she was 8-0 with seven finishes, things couldn’t have looked much brighter for the young prospect.
But she’d run into women’s MMA legend Roxanne Modafferi, a fight she injured her knee in the first round of. That was a pretty tough fight to watch, and in all honesty, it should’ve been stopped. Barber couldn’t even stand correctly, let alone fight effectively.
Nonetheless, she’d lose the bout via unanimous decision, before returning 13 months later to lose another unanimous decision to Alexa Grasso in a fight she just wasn’t herself in.
Barber was throwing strikes from three feet away, at least, throughout the entirety of the first two rounds. It’s like she didn’t dare get close to Grasso, her timing and range was just off.
However, she’d rebound in round three, but it was too little too late.
The same thing happened in her next fight with Miranda Maverick, though she was awarded the controversial split decision victory after rallying in the third round.
Though everyone believes she lost this fight, it appeared to give her confidence back, as she handily defeated Montana De La Rosa via unanimous decision just last month at UFC Fight Night 205.
Who do you see walking away the victor in this women’s flyweight contest?
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