Kamaru Usman is aware of all in regards to the strain of an enormous combat, so he has some perspective with regards to 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. Nevertheless, simply earlier than the headliner was about to kick off, it was introduced on the published that Barber had withdrawn from the bout attributable to well being points.
An understandably pissed off Blanchfield later instructed reporters she has no plans to re-book the matchup and accused Barber of being “an entire mess in each side of her whole life.”
On his Pound-4-Pound podcast, Usman shared his ideas about what occurred Saturday.
“It was a really complicated scenario,” Usman stated. “They interviewed Erin Blanchfield after the combat, and, you recognize, 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 outdoor observer. He was in attendance for a few of Barber’s coaching periods and from what he noticed, Barber regarded 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 attributable to 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 exhausting. She was coaching actually exhausting. She had nice coaching companions, I noticed her do nice drilling. … Appeared 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 burden after which not exhibiting up.
“We don’t know what occurred again there. Erin Blanchfield was instructed she had a seizure. Generally 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 occurring. You’re scared, you’re excited, you’re anxious. Generally that flood of feelings may 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 exhausting to return 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 troublesome to crawl out.”
When Barber competes once more is anyone’s guess. In an announcement following the UFC Vegas 107 major 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 probably has to simply accept that her status has taken one other hit within the courtroom of public opinion.
“All of us get nervous again there, but it surely’s a part of being knowledgeable,” Usman stated. “It’s a part of being within the UFC, the most important, most recognizable group on the planet. If you get on this stage, hopefully you will have executed 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 knowledgeable within the greatest group on the planet.
“So if that’s what befell, then Erin wasn’t essentially mistaken. Perhaps Maycee must see a sport psych or somebody to hone all the pieces in. However that was not a great look. It wasn’t.”
