Maycee Barber may be on her way to superstardom if UFC president Dana White has anything to say about it.
The 21-year-old prospect earned arguably her most impressive win to date when she dispatched former Ultimate Fighter competitor Gillian Robertson with a violent first-round TKO in their fight at UFC on ESPN 6 on Friday night in Boston.
Barber first caught White’s attention when she earned her UFC contract by competing on his Tuesday night Contender Series. Since that time, Barber has picked up three straight knockout wins to move her record to 8-0 overall.
“She’s a gangster this girl. I love everything about this girl,” White said about Barber at the post-fight press conference. “You should see the crazy texts she sends me like all the time, including tonight. As soon as the fight was over she started texting me and she wants to fight everybody and ‘I told you, I told you I was going to do this’.
“I love her attitude. I love how bad she wants to be a world champion. I love how she finishes fights. She fought a very tough girl tonight and she stopped her. She looked incredible. She’s fun and it’s going to be fun for all of us and the fans to watch her grow over the next couple years.”
Barber has said repeatedly that she wants to become the youngest champion in UFC history—a feat currently held by Jon Jones when he won the light heavyweight title at 23 years of age back in 2011.
As much as he showers her with adoration, White isn’t trying to compare Barber to anybody else from the past because he believes she’s forging her own path in the sport.
While he may have made similar comments about former UFC champion Ronda Rousey when she first joined the promotion, White says Barber is a completely different animal doing her own thing when she fights.
“I don’t know if I’d call her Ronda Rousey. If you look at a young Ronda Rousey, she was armbarring everybody. This girl put on a striking clinic tonight,” White said. “I think Maycee is Maycee.
“She’s completely different but I love her intensity. I love her attitude. I love that she wants to be a world champion before anybody else ever was. It’s fun. She’s fun to watch. I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s fun.”
