Maycee Barber struggles to explain medical issue that forced UFC on ESPN 68 withdrawal

USA Today

04-06-2025

Maycee Barber struggles to explain medical issue that forced UFC on ESPN 68 withdrawal
Maycee Barber has opened up on the medical issue that caused her to withdraw from UFC on ESPN 68, but she doesn't have many answers.
Just 30 minutes before she was scheduled to make the walk against Erin Blanchfield in this past Saturday's flyweight main event at the UFC Apex, Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) was transported to the hospital after she wasn't medically cleared to compete, and the fight was canceled. She checked out of the hospital Monday, but a couple of days later, Barber is still trying to figure out exactly what happened.
"We're not entirely sure what happened," Barber told ESPN. "Obviously there was a medical emergency. We're not quite sure exactly what it was, what it is, but there was something that happened, and I don't exactly remember everything. But there was an event that happened in the back when I was warming up, and the doctor, the commissioners, like everybody saw it. The commissioners were asking me if I was OK, and I was saying that I was, and they didn't think that I was.
"They kept asking the coaches, and the coaches were like – again, I'm not entirely sure because it's hard for me to remember everything that happened, but from what I was told, the coaches were like, 'We're not quite sure.' They were trying to figure it out, and they ended up getting the doctors. Next thing I know, I was in the back of an ambulance and being transported to a hospital. I stayed there and was doing a bunch of tests and trying to figure out what was going on."
This isn't the first time Barber has been hospitalized for medical reasons caused by a fight. She spent nine days in the hospital after defeating Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 299, and ongoing health issues forced her to withdraw from her UFC on ESPN 59 bout against Rose Namajunas last July.
Barber said the UFC is seeking the best doctors and specialists to get to the bottom of what exactly happened to her.
"It looked like my autonomic nervous system might have been having an issue," Barber said. "They said it looked like a pseudo-seizure, is what I was told, but there's no answer. We need to run tests."
Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was visibly frustrated and went off on Barber, who is more upset with how the fans have reacted.
"I see people commenting, 'Oh, I'm glad it happened to her and not to someone who is relevant,' and I feel that's a pretty heartless and cold thing to say," Barber said. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody. I wouldn't wish this kind of situation, an unknown situation, on anybody. It's frustrating because it makes me have a lot of sympathy toward whoever has a medical issue or something going on in their life."