Maycee Barber has reassured her fans that she is “OK” after her scary UFC loss went viral at the weekend.
On Saturday night, Barber faced Alexa Grasso in the co-main event of UFC Seattle, five years after losing to the Mexican on points. And Barber’s bid for revenge did not yield her desired outcome, as she suffered a first-round knockout by the former flyweight champion.
Yet the manner of the finish was not so straightforward.
Although Grasso clearly knocked the 27-year-old unconscious with a left cross, she was still fast enough to lock in a rear naked choke before the referee could intervene.
The official quickly got to Grasso and signalled for her to release the choke, but Barber was left staring up at the lights – while still unconscious – for a worrying amount of time.
Grasso, 32, soon curtailed her own celebrations and kneeled near Barber, showing concern for the American.
The nature of Barber’s defeat led her to take to Instagram on Sunday, where she showed off lacerations to her lip and addressed her fans in a video post.
“Well, this is not the post or video that I wanted to be making today,” Barber said, “but I wanted to come on here and say thank you to the UFC and thank you to Alexa for the opportunity.
“I wanted to go out there and get my opportunity to get my rematch and dominate and get the win back, and unfortunately it was not my night. I got caught and Alexa did an amazing thing. She’s a phenomenal fighter.
“I don’t really remember a whole lot. All I know is: every time I go on social media, I look like I’m dead, and that’s not a very fun thing to see. So, I’ve been trying to stay off social media, but I also wanted to come on here and tell you guys that I am OK.
“I am very blessed to live the life that I do. As tough as it is, going out there and being able to do what I did last night was still one of the greatest nights of my life. Despite all of that, that’s still one of the better nights of my life that I’ve ever had.
“I’ve had some pretty tough days so that was still one of the greatest days of my life. Being able to walk out there and being able to do what I’ve done.
“I will be back. I’m going to heal up and put in the work and get back out there. I’m very thankful to everyone who has supported me, everyone who has watched me grow, watched me win, watched me lose, watched me fall, and who’s going to watch me win again. Thank you guys all for the love and support and I will be back.”
Footage of Barber’s defeat quickly went viral over the weekend, with many fans lamenting the scary nature of her condition during and after the finish. However, there was also praise for the speed of Grasso’s techniques and decision-making; her move to seek the choke was seen as instinctive rather than malicious.
The result leaves Barber with a 15-3 professional record, while Grasso is 17-5-1. Grasso held the flyweight title from March 2023 until September 2024, having dethroned Valentina Shevchenko with an upset submission win, before drawing with the legend in their second fight and losing their trilogy bout on points.
Grasso’s win on Saturday contrasted to the fortunes of another former champion, as Israel Adesanya was beaten in the main event.
The former middleweight champion suffered a second-round TKO by rising contender Joe Pyfer, as Adesanya was beaten for the fourth fight in a row.
