For Maycee Barber’s next fight, she’ll be up against one of the most experienced women in MMA.
The 21-year-old flyweight is expected to face 39-fight veteran Roxanne Modafferi in a flyweight bout at UFC 246 on Jan. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, MMA Fighting confirmed the matchup with multiple people with knowledge of the booking, who asked to remain anonymous, following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
Barber, who improved to 8-0 with a first-round TKO of Gillian Robertson this past October, had been campaigning for a matchup with Paige VanZant, but VanZant countered by announcing she was interested in fighting any flyweight except for Barber. Though Barber posted a video on Instagram in which she continued to pursue the fight, it appears that all parties involved are moving on for now.
Modafferi (23-16) is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Jennifer Maia in July. The 37-year-old has alternated wins and losses in her last six outings, which includes wins over Antonina Shevchenko and Barb Honchak. She is in her second stint with the UFC and has previously competed for a number of notable organizations including Invicta FC, Strikeforce, and Japan’s Jewels promotion.