Maycee Barber was involved in one of the most bizarre moments in recent UFC history during her featured preliminary bout against veteran Roxanne Modaferri at UFC 246. Barber was visibly favoring her left knee as she made her way to the corner after the second round.
The 21-year-old Barber was briefly examined by a cageside physician who checked out her knee and calmly revealed she “had a small, partial ACL tear” before proclaiming, “She’s fine.” Barber then continued into the third round where her knee continued to bother her.
As it turned out, Barber ended the fight with a complete tear of her left ACL.
Here's the doctor examining Maycee Barber before the "she's got a small partial ACL tear, she's fine" #UFC246 pic.twitter.com/3wOaDhoOW7
— Josh Sánchez (@joshnsanchez) January 19, 2020
According to ESPN, Barber’s father, Bucky Barber, revealed that the rising prospect suffered the knee injury in Round 1 and it gradually got worse as the fight went on.
“We think she injured it in the first 10 seconds,” Bucky Barber told ESPN. “She stepped on Roxanne’s foot as she backed up and felt a pop. You can see the knee give out on the side. She went back and started fighting and trying to do things and I noticed she was flat in a way I’ve never seen before.”
Ultimately, Barber (8-1) suffered what was the first loss of her professional mixed martial arts career.
Barber will be undergoing in surgery in California before returning to Las Vegas to rehab the injury. We wish Barber a full and speedy recovery.
If you missed out on Saturday night’s action, we have you covered.
A full look at the results from UFC 246 can be seen below.
UFC 246 Results
#UFC246- Conor McGregor def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:40
- Holly Holm def. Raquel Pennington via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aleksei Oleinik def. Maurice Greene via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:38
- Brian Kelleher def. Ode Osbourne via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:49
- Diego Ferreira def. Anthony Pettis via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:46
- Roxanne Modafferi def. Maycee Barber via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Sodiq Yusuff def. Andre Fili via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Askar Askarov def. Tim Elliott via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Drew Dober def. Nasrat Haqparast via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:10
- Aleksa Camur def. Justin Ledet via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sabina Mazo def. J.J. Aldrich via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)