The victory would be Modafferi’s third in the Octagon, a number that’s surprising given the fact that she’s compiled 23 wins over the course of the career that began in 2003. But for the first ten years of that career, women weren’t even fighting in the UFC. But Modafferi always had hope that she would one day fight in the promotion.
“That’s always kind of been my dream,” said Modafferi, who ignited the diehard fan base that had followed her for years when she stopped Barb Honchak in 2018 for her first UFC win. Those fans have never strayed from her side, and Modafferi knows it.
“The fans that I have are hardcore fans,” she said. “And I love them so much. I’ve gotten a lot of fan mail and a lot of well wishes and people in my corner and that’s good enough for me. I’m so happy to have them.”
Expect another internet breakdown should she upset Barber this weekend, and if that’s the case, Modafferi will be just as excited, if not more, as her fans are. So yeah, she’s not jaded by any of this after 17 years in the game.
“The only thing I’m jaded by is people missing weight,” said Modafferi, who has seen two of her last three opponents (Jennifer Maia and Sijara Eubanks) miss their mark on the scale. “Hopefully my next opponent won’t miss weight. She’s never missed weight at flyweight, so we’re just gonna think positively and we’re gonna have a good fight.”
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