The first time Alexa Grasso and Maycee Barber squared off, they were a couple of flyweights looking to get a foothold in a wide-open 125-pound division. Six years later, they’re both veterans, and Grasso is a former champion, but they both remain in the thick of the division’s title picture.
Before they go at each other again in Seattle, we’re taking a look at what the two have been up to since their first matchup in Las Vegas.
Grasso and Barber collided inside Meta APEX in February 2021 in major transition moments in their respective careers. Grasso moved up to the flyweight division after spending her first six bouts of her UFC tenure at strawweight, picking up a decision win over Ji-Yeon Kim in August 2020. Barber, meanwhile, was coming off her first professional defeat as well as a torn ACL.
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It turns out they were fighters moving in opposite directions as well. Barber looked rusty and unsure, while Grasso was surefooted, having not depleted herself to make the 115-pound limit. In a relatively pedestrian fight, Grasso walked away with the clear-cut unanimous decision.
Going from one of the hottest prospects in the sport to two losses on the bounce put Barber at a real crossroads, so when she was lined up with fellow flyweight youngster Miranda Maverick, it had a sense of “now or never” around it for “The Future.”
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In a gritty, back-and-forth affair, Barber worked through Maverick’s sharp grappling attacks to put enough points of her own on the board with striking and some grappling to get the controversial nod from the judges. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win, which is all that mattered for Barber.
Grasso: N/A
Although Barber snapped her losing streak, she was still seeking a performance to convince everyone she was still very much the future of the division. Against Montana De La Rosa, Barber was able to string together three solid rounds to convincingly turn away the Ultimate Fighter alumna and earn the judges’ nod.
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Three months later, Barber stepped in for the injured Casey O’Neill to face former title challenger Jessica Eye at UFC 276. Barber looked sharp against the veteran, more or less cruising to a decision win and sending Eye into retirement.
Injury kept Grasso out of the Octagon for the rest of 2021, but she was able to rebook her scheduled bout with Joanne Wood for UFC’s trip to Columbus in March 2022. Wood was coming off a risky bout against Taila Santos, one that saw the Scotswoman lose her No. 1 contender spot, and she was keen to build back toward gold. Grasso was the one who made the most of the opportunity, though, submitting Wood in the first round to show off a well-rounded skill set.
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Grasso was then booked against the athletic Viviane Araújo in the summer before it was rescheduled for an October main event, and Grasso once again showed how well she fit in at 125 pounds. Over the course of 25 minutes, Grasso got out and stayed ahead with her speed and precision. She stayed on the front foot throughout the contest, passing her toughest test to date with flying colors.
Barber kicked off her 2023 campaign in San Antonio when she faced veteran flyweight Andrea Lee. She began the bout sharp, landing the heavier shots on the feet and more or less dictating the bout, but Lee found a rhythm in the third to make things uncertain when the scorecards were read. In the end, though, Barber got the split nod and extended her winning streak to four.
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The American finally found the breakthrough performance she had been searching for when she faced Amanda Ribas in Jacksonville. She stunned Ribas with a heavy punch before landing more elbows and strikes to melt the Brazilian, earning her first Performance Bonus.
While Valentina Shevchenko reigned over the division, it was hard to imagine anyone unseating her save for a shocking turn of events.
Grasso provided exactly that at UFC 285 when she submitted the dominant champ in the fourth round. It was a fight where Grasso was having quite a bit of success, making life more difficult for Shevchenko than previous opponents, but it was her crafty back-take following a spinning attack from the champion that was the moment of truth. Grasso hopped on Shevchenko’s back, applying heavy pressure to her jaw before the titleholder was forced to tap.
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An immediate rematch was made, this time at UFC’s first Noche UFC event in September, celebrating Mexican Independence Day. With Grasso carrying the show on her shoulders, the two went back and forth. Grasso scored a knockdown in the second round and threatened Shevchenko with another back-take late in the fight. In a surprising sequence of events, the bout was ruled a split draw, meaning Grasso successfully defended her title but would likely face Shevchenko a third time in the near future.
After securing her first finish in four years, Barber was lined up against the stiff test that is Katlyn Cerminara. The fleet-of-foot veteran wasn’t able to stifle Barber, who was at peace with making the bout a grimy one, eventually earning the decision victory.
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Despite stretching her winning streak to six, Barber ended up in the hospital with health problems after the fight, which would keep her from fighting Namajunas in July and would keep her out of action well into 2025.
Upping the ante from their rematch, Grasso and Shevchenko faced off in the co-main at Noche UFC inside Sphere. The epic setting was unforgettable, but the fight, unfortunately for Grasso, very much wasn’t. Shevchenko came out with a clear game plan to take Grasso down and thwart any offense from the Mexican champion, and she rode that plan all the way to a decision victory to regain the title.
To call Barber’s 2025 tumultuous would be an understatement. After spending much of 2024 sorting through those lingering health issues, Barber eventually returned to training in 2025 and booked a fight against Erin Blanchfield. She made it all the way through fight week but did weigh in half a pound over the limit. On fight night, all seemed well until it wasn’t. Moments before walking out, Barber suffered a seizure, and the bout was canceled.
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About six more months would pass with Barber unsure of when she would fight next. Eventually, she was scheduled against Karine Silva, successfully making it through fight camp and her weight cut, finally stepping back into the Octagon after 22 months away. Silva used her grappling to control much of the start of the fight, but Barber eventually got top position and implemented her ground-and-pound attack. That momentum carried through the fight, even when she was hit with an illegal upkick in the second round. All told, Barber looked good for a fighter who had gone through what she had, and most importantly, she got her hand raised to stretch her winning streak to seven.
Looking to get right back into the title picture, Grasso faced rising Brazilian contender Natália Silva at UFC 315, her first non-title fixture in three years. However, Silva was a step ahead all night, her footwork and speed giving Grasso fits and not allowing the former champion to find a rhythm whatsoever. At the end of 15 minutes, the judges saw it unanimously for Silva.
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