Maycee Barber set for UFC 323 return in first fight since stunning last-minute withdrawal

UFC women’s flyweight contender Maycee Barber will return to the Octagon just months after a significant health scare canceled her fight with Erin Blanchfield.

Maycee Barber will return to the Octagon just months after her scheduled main event bout against Erin Blanchfield was canceled just minutes before she was supposed to walk to the cage.

Barber and Blanchfield were supposed to square off in a potential No. 1 contender fight earlier this year at the UFC Apex. But just minutes before Blanchfield and Barber were scheduled to walk to the Octagon, it was announced that the main event bout was abruptly canceled due to a health-related issue from Barber’s side.

It later surfaced that Barber suffered a seizure in her locker room and was quickly rushed to a local hospital. After Barber’s medical scare, Blanchfield encouraged Barber to ‘get her life together’, in a statement heavily criticized by some fight fans.

Just months after the debacle, Barber is set to make her return to the cage to face one of the flyweight division’s surging contenders.

Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva added to UFC’s final pay-per-view card of 2025

Barber will face Karine Silva in a three-round flyweight bout at UFC 323 on December 6th, likely in Las Vegas.

The Fighting Nerds team shared the news of Barber vs. Silva in a social media post on Tuesday.

Barber returns to the cage amid a six-fight winning streak, including recent wins over former title challengers Jessica Eye and Katlyn Cerminara. She’s also defeated the likes of Amanda Ribas and Andrea Lee during her current streak.

Silva returns after a unanimous decision victory over Dione Barbosa at UFC 319 last month. She bounced back from her first UFC defeat to Viviane Araujo at UFC 309 last November.

Before the Araujo fight, Silva accumulated a nine-fight winning streak, and earned a UFC contract via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021.

As of this writing, the UFC 323 main event hasn’t been announced, and the full lineup is expected to be made public in the coming weeks. The card will be the final UFC pay-per-view broadcast on ESPN before the promotion makes its full-time move to Paramount in January.