Dana White Confident Maycee Barber Will Bounce Back: ‘She’s Got Nothing But Time’

Maycee Barber emerged from a contract-winning performance on Dana White’s Contender Series with big ambitions for her Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Ahead of her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 139 in November 2018, Barber announced her plans to break Jon Jones’ record by becoming the youngest champion in promotion history.

“I’ve always said it: I’m going to be the youngest UFC champion,” Barber said prior to the event. “But it’s better to just let your actions speak and talk a little less. We’re going to say less, do more. And, yeah, you guys know. You’ll see where I go.”

The hype began to build in earnest as Barber dispatched Hannah Cifers, J.J. Aldrich and Gillian Robertson via technical knockout in her first three promotional appearances. She hit a speed bump at UFC 246, however, suffering a torn ACL in an upset loss to Roxanne Modafferi in January 2020. After more than a year on the sidelines, “The Future” returned to action at UFC 258 this past Saturday, but once again she was stymied in a unanimous decision loss to Alexa Grasso in the evening’s co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Sometimes when fighters fail to deliver on their promises, backlash follows, but UFC president Dana White still believes that Barber is capable of big things. It just might not happen as quickly as Barber originally predicted.

“She’s a savage. She was one of the most ambitious and toughest young women that I’ve ever met. I expect nothing but big thigns from her,” White said at the UFC 258 post-fight press conference. “She’s a baby still. She’s got nothing but time.

“I know she put this unbelievable pressure on herself to be a champion before Jon Jones. It’s good to set goals for yourself, but she’s a baby – she’s got nothing but time.”