Kamaru Usman is aware of all concerning the strain of a giant combat, so he has some perspective on the subject of Maycee Barber not making the stroll to the octagon this previous Saturday.
Barber, using a six-fight win streak, was scheduled to combat Erin Blanchfield in a flyweight contenders’ bout in the principle 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simply earlier than the headliner was about to kick off, it was introduced on the published that Barber had withdrawn from the bout on account of well being points.
An understandably annoyed Blanchfield later advised reporters she has no plans to re-book the matchup and accused Barber of being “a complete mess in every aspect of her entire 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 understand, she wasn’t unsuitable, 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 try 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 regarded able to make a press release. As an alternative, Barber ended up pulling out of her second straight combat after she withdrew from a matchup with Rose Namajunas in July 2024, additionally on account 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 evening.
“The loopy factor is, I bought to see Maycee Barber practice for this combat,” Usman stated. “She was working laborious. She was coaching actually laborious. She had nice coaching companions, I noticed her do nice drilling. … Regarded nice. So all this was type of—clearly there have been various things which have led as much as this all through her profession which have type of put a black eye on every little thing. However lacking the load after which not exhibiting up.
“We don’t know what occurred again there. Erin Blanchfield was advised she had a seizure. Generally you get these jitters. Hey, all of us get these jitters. You about to stroll out, I’ve bought to pee, I’ve bought to poop on the similar time, I don’t know what’s occurring. You’re scared, you’re excited, you’re anxious. Generally 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, typically, when you get in that rabbit gap, it’s very laborious to come back out. Particularly when there’s a clock on you saying, ‘Alright, 5 minutes, we’re strolling! 4 minutes!’ Once you get in there, it’s very, very troublesome to crawl out.”
When Barber competes once more is anyone’s guess. In a press release following the UFC Vegas 107 principal occasion cancellation, the 27-year-old apologized to the UFC and Blanchfield, including, “We will get to the bottom of it all and be back.”
For now, Barber doubtless 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. Once you get on this stage, hopefully you have got 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 appear like knowledgeable within the greatest group on the planet.
“So if that’s what befell, then Erin wasn’t essentially unsuitable. Possibly Maycee must see a sport psych or somebody to hone every little thing in. However that was not a superb look. It wasn’t.”
