Kamaru Usman is aware of all in regards to the strain of an enormous combat, so he has some perspective on the subject of Maycee Barber not making the stroll to the octagon this previous Saturday.
Barber, driving a six-fight win streak, was scheduled to combat Erin Blanchfield in a flyweight contenders’ bout in the primary occasion of UFC Vegas 107. Nonetheless, simply earlier than the headliner was about to kick off, it was introduced on the published that Barber had withdrawn from the bout because of well being points.
An understandably pissed off Blanchfield later informed reporters she has no plans to re-book the matchup and accused Barber of being “a whole mess in each facet of her complete life.”
On his Pound-4-Pound podcast, Usman shared his ideas about what occurred Saturday.
“It was a really complicated state of affairs,” Usman stated. “They interviewed Erin Blanchfield after the combat, and, you realize, she wasn’t mistaken, actually, with something she stated in that interview. Take a look at it. On Friday, Maycee missed weight by half a pound, and didn’t return to attempt to get it off. … So the combat already didn’t begin in a great way.”
Usman isn’t simply talking as an out of doors observer. He was in attendance for a few of Barber’s coaching classes and from what he noticed, Barber seemed able to make an announcement. As a substitute, Barber ended up pulling out of her second straight combat after she withdrew from a matchup with Rose Namajunas in July 2024, additionally because of well being issues, the specifics of which stay unrevealed.
A longtime welterweight champion, Usman remembers his personal struggles with making that step out previous the curtain on combat night time.
“The loopy factor is, I received to see Maycee Barber practice for this combat,” Usman stated. “She was working arduous. She was coaching actually arduous. She had nice coaching companions, I noticed her do nice drilling. … Seemed nice. So all this was form of—clearly there have been various things which have led as much as this all through her profession which have form of put a black eye on all the pieces. However lacking the load after which not exhibiting up.
“We don’t know what occurred again there. Erin Blanchfield was informed she had a seizure. Typically you get these jitters. Hey, all of us get these jitters. You about to stroll out, I’ve received to pee, I’ve received to poop on the identical time, I don’t know what’s happening. You’re scared, you’re excited, you’re anxious. Typically that flood of feelings might be an excessive amount of for some guys. There are some guys that get to the sector—there have been guys that haven’t made the stroll. Everybody thinks, as a result of everyone seems to be so spoiled watching us go different there and do this stuff, they don’t suppose we take care of these nerves within the again. We’re all human and we take care of all these nerves. Whether or not it’s a panic assault or one thing, generally, when you get in that rabbit gap, it’s very arduous to come back out. Particularly when there’s a clock on you saying, ‘Alright, 5 minutes, we’re strolling! 4 minutes!’ If you get in there, it’s very, very tough to crawl out.”
When Barber competes once more is anyone’s guess. In an announcement following the UFC Vegas 107 predominant occasion cancellation, the 27-year-old apologized to the UFC and Blanchfield, including, “We are going to resolve all of it and be again.”
For now, Barber doubtless has to simply accept that her popularity has taken one other hit within the court docket of public opinion.
“All of us get nervous again there, however it’s a part of being an expert,” Usman stated. “It’s a part of being within the UFC, the most important, most recognizable group on the earth. If you get on this stage, hopefully you might have finished all of the work to have the ability to hone in on all of these jitters, all of these emotions, so you’ll be able to go on the market and seem like an expert within the greatest group on the earth.
“So if that’s what came about, then Erin wasn’t essentially mistaken. Possibly Maycee must see a sport psych or somebody to hone all the pieces in. However that was not an excellent look. It wasn’t.”
