Maycee Barber health update: UFC fighter’s team gives update after scary loss to Alexa Grasso

Maycee Barber lost in scary fashion to Alexa Grasso in a UFC flyweight fight Saturday night in Settle. The top five matchup was expected to put one of the women in title contention with a victory and Grasso came out victorious, giving her a chance to win back the belt in the future.

But Barber appeared to be knocked out via a punch from Grasso, fell to the canvas and Grasso applied a rear-naked choke to finish the fight before the ref realized Barber was out. It was a stunning moment.

There were scary images of Barber lying in the cage following the fight. But, her team updated her condition and said she’s recovering and will be back.

“Part of the game,” Barber’s team wrote on her Instagram story with photos. “Congrats to Alexa, we got caught but are okay. Will be back soon. Thanks for everyone checking in. Not our night … This is the fight game and sometimes things don’t go our way. No blame, no excuses … just lessons. We learn, we grow and we come back stronger. God is good all the time.”

Barber, 27, came in ranked No. 5 in the weight class while Grasso was No. 3 in the division. They’re all chasing current champion, and future Hall of Famer, Valentina Shevchenko. 

With the win, Grasso improved to 17-5-1 in her UFC career. Barber fell to 15-3-0, and had her seven-fight win streak broken.

“First of all, I want to thank everyone that’s here. I hope you enjoyed the fight. Thank you for the love. I’m back,” Grasso told UFC’s Daniel Cormier after the fight. “Without injuries, this is a different Alexa. I’m so happy. Of course my striking is always a first weapon, but I was training so hard to get a finish by submission because I trained Jiu-Jitsu a lot. I wanted to finish.”

That would explain why Grasso went for the rear-naked choke, even though the fight was nearly completed. She had set the goal to win by submission, and wanted to make sure to end the fight with a bang.

Before heading to the back following the win, Grasso made her plea to Dana White for the UFC to hold a show in her home country of Guadalajara. “Please bring the UFC to Guadalajara,” Grasso said. “That’s my biggest dream. Please!”

Grasso is a former UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion. She is the first Mexican woman to ever win a UFC Championship.