How Maycee Barber's mean streak has fueled her successful, obstacle-filled journey to top of UFC

Barber has overcome injuries and disappointments, entering UFC Fight Night on a seven-match win streak with eyes on a championship

If there's a super power within the skill set of Maycee Barber that has helped her sustain a seven-fight win streak -- despite multiple layoffs and health scares outside the cage -- it might be the ferociousness with which she competes.

You can call it passion, drive or what it appears to be: a mean streak. And it has been on display since the moment the Greely, Colorado, native burst onto the UFC scene in 2018 during Season 2 of "The Dana White Contender Series" as a 20-year-old prospect. 

"I guess you could call it a super power, but I just feel like I have a thing and it's something I possess," Barber told CBS Sports HQ on Tuesday. "Not a lot of other girls possess it. I love that about myself, and I definitely lean into it. I just know that there is not a single girl who can go into the Octagon with me and have nearly that amount of aggression and dominance that I have."

The 27-year-old Barber (15-2) returns in the co-feature at UFC Fight Night in Seattle on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Paramount+) for a rematch against former women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso (16-5-1). A victory in this top-five matchup, according to Barber, would be her eighth straight and likely the final hurdle she needs to clear to secure a frequently elusive shot at the 125-pound title. 

"I think the only thing that's stopping me is if [UFC president and CEO] Dana [White] decides that he just doesn't want to see me have the belt," Barber joked. "That's the only thing. There is no one else or nothing else in my way."

The journey to get to this point has been a wild one for Barber.

After recording violent stoppages in each of her first three UFC bouts, she appeared on the verge of challenging for a world title in 2020 amid her long-stated goal of hoping to break Jon Jones' record as the youngest champion in UFC history (23 years, 242 days). That goal that never came to fruition amid a trio of significant setbacks. 

Entering as a massive betting favorite at UFC 246, Barber was unceremoniously upset by Roxanne Modafferi. A knee injury, suffered in that decision loss, kept Barber out for 13 months. Then, at UFC 258 in 2021, she lost a disputed yet competitive decision to Grasso in the co-main event. 

"There are a lot of things I took away [from the Grasso loss], but the most important thing is that I wanted to get that one back, and I was going to do everything in my power to have success in every fight after that fight to be able to call for this [rematch] and chase after her again," Barber said. 

The motivation from her second straight defeat was parlayed into a winning streak over a series of impressive names; Barber has not lost since. Still, as great as her run looks on paper, the myriad health setbacks she endured along the way were staggering. 

Shortly after her victory over former title challenger Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 299 in March 2024, Barber endured a near-death experience amid a nine-day hospital battle with pneumonia, strep throat and a staph infection that effectively collapsed her immune system. She had a 105-degree fever for multiple days, along with low blood pressure and oxygen levels, requiring 15 rounds of IV antibiotics. 

Barber was forced to withdraw from a key fight against former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas months later when her health problems continued. A return bout was scheduled for May 2025 against Erin Blanchfield, but Barber, who missed weight by less than a pound, collapsed in the UFC Apex locker room shortly before the main event began, and the Las Vegas fight was canceled.

Not only did she wake up in an ambulance with no memory of what occurred, doctors were unable to diagnose what caused the incident. In a flash, her time away from the Octagon reached nearly two full years.

Despite everything she endured on the hard road back to her comeback fight in December 2025 at UFC 323, where Barber faced veteran Karine Silva, she can still pinpoint the positives that came from the overall experience.

"It has been a huge testament of faith and all of the effort that all the people -- the coaches, my boyfriend and my family -- who have stood by my side and put in the work with me to stay true," Barber said. "We have just continued to grind and just chase this dream, knowing that we are not going to stop no matter what life throws our way.

"There have been so many times I thought maybe I should be done, and maybe I should just think about prioritizing my health. What if I want to be a mom, and what if I want to do this or that? But there has also been this dream that I have, and it's like, 'No, I will not stop, and I want to have the belt, and I want to chase this dream.'"

Barber overcame an illegal upkick from a grounded Silva that dazed her in the second round and showcased her trademark aggression and ground-and-pound skills to score a triumphal decision win that put her back on track for the Grasso rematch. 

"We got to dominate in that performance. I got to have a great win over a tough opponent," Barber said. "My coaches were like, 'You know how tough she is, right? You got to feel so many great things, and you got a great win over someone who is a phenomenal fighter.' It wasn't that we had a great win over an easy opponent. We had a two-year layoff, and we came back and dominated over someone great. It was just really good to have that feeling. I don't want easy fights; I have never wanted that."

Grasso's 2021 win over Barber was part of a five-fight win streak that included an upset of legendary champion Valentina Shevchenko to capture the flyweight title via submission in 2023. But the 32-year-old Grasso hasn't won a bout since fighting Shevchenko to a draw in their immediate rematch before losing their 2024 trilogy by wide decision. 

Last May, Grasso extended her winless streak to three fights when she lost a decision to top contender Natalia Silva, who is likely next in line to challenge Shevchenko. Barber, with a win over Grasso, expects to fight the winner. 

"I am a completely different fighter than the girl that [Grasso] fought that many years ago," Barber said. "The only thing that she has to remember about me is that she doesn't want to fight that girl that she fought in the third round. The only difference is that I am so much better than that girl. I'm just as mean, if not meaner.

"I expect to go out there and dominate her in every aspect and finish her. I don't care who is holding [the title] as long as I end up with it next."