Maycee Barber confident she beat Miranda Maverick: “I got my hand raised and I got the two checks”

Maycee Barber knew she beat Miranda Maverick when the fight went to the scorecards.

Entering her fight at UFC Vegas 32, Barber was on a two-fight losing skid and was in a new gym at Team Alpha Male. She was also set to fight a very dangerous opponent in Maverick, but Barber knew they had a game plan to get the win.

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“The game plan was to fight our fight and mainly focus on us and focus less on what they’re doing and more on what we’re doing,” Barber said to BJPENN.com. “Which is something we worked on in the gym a lot. Honestly, just going in there and being a happy fighter, being back to myself, and loving the entire process and the fight.”

In the first round, Barber seemed tentative and wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes she usually throws. However, “The Future” says that wasn’t due to her timing off. Instead, that was part of the game plan as she wanted to use the first round to feel Maverick out.

“A little bit but mainly, not play it safe in the first round, but feel it out, feel the power, feel the movement and get the timing down for sure,” Barber said. “I didn’t want to come out reckless in the first round because she hits hard and is a skilled fighter. I wanted to make sure that I got through the first round, figured everything out, and got into the second and third for sure.”

Maycee Barber then started to pick up the pace in the second and third rounds. She clearly won the third, but the second was the toss-up round. When the final bell rang, Barber was confident she did enough to get her hand raised.

Why Barber feels she won is simple. The Future says she landed the more significant strikes and despite getting taken down in the second, she doesn’t think Maverick did anything with it.

Image Credit: @monsterenergy (Twitter)

“I knew I did the things I needed to do. I hate letting it go to the judges but they did their job and I did mine,” Barber explained. “The little details that mattered in the exchanges, I landed the more significant strikes. There was the one takedown in the second round she had but she didn’t do anything with it. I was able to get back on my feet and I knew I did what I needed to, to win the fight.”

After the fight, the emotions of the win and seeing her family got to Barber. She admits it has been a long year-and-a-half without a win and is glad she’s back in the win column.

Despite the fact Barber didn’t get the finish as she wanted, she says she’s still pleased with her performance.

“I am for sure. Obviously, I always wish for a finish but I feel good. I came out healthy, I came out completely healthy and I feel like I needed that time in the cage with someone who is skilled, who wasn’t just a feeder fight,” Maycee Barber said. “They are not handing me, someone, easy, that’s not what I was handed. I was handed a solid opponent in Miranda Maverick, a ranked opponent. For me, it’s good to see that I’m fighting someone tough and we figured it out. I’m happy I was able to showcase that through the entire three rounds and showcase there are new things to expect.”

However, since the fight ended, many have said it was a robbery and Maverick should’ve gotten the win. For Barber, she says she doesn’t care what anyone says as the only people that matter are the judges. She also knows the claims of robbery will only build up their eventual rematch.

“Let them talk, let them say that. That will just build it up for someday when we fight again. We are both young and we are both going to fight again against each other,” Barber said. “Let that build, that’s just going to make the fight. But, I won the fight, I got my hand raised and I got the two checks.”

With Barber back in the win column and not being injured, the hope is to get a quick turnaround. She also says she has found her home gym in Team Alpha Male and will be there for the long haul.

“Yeah, Team Alpha Male is home. I got my dogs, my family, Team Alpha Male is home,” Barber concluded.

Do you think Maycee Barber beat Miranda Maverick?