Preview: UFC Fight Night 205 ‘Lemos vs. Andrade’

Women’s Flyweights

#14 WFLW | Maycee Barber (9-2, 4-2 UFC) vs. NR | Montana De La Rosa (12-6-1, 5-2-1 UFC)

BETUS ODDS: Barber (-190), De La Rosa (+155)

What are we to make of Barber? She earned a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series at the ripe age of 20 and seemed confident throughout the process that she would become the youngest champion in UFC history. That confidence shines through in her fights. “The Future” might not be the most technically sound prospect, but she is a workhorse of an athlete who was able to run through some solid competition early in her UFC career. After three straight UFC wins, Barber was matched with Roxanne Modafferi in a fight where she figured to be able to rely on her athleticism, but instead, things went about as poorly as possible. Modafferi’s veteran skill was enough to outwork and outgrapple the younger and more talented prospect, and Barber suffered a torn ACL during the fight that kept her out of action for over a year. Barber finally returned in February 2021, and her two fights since have been a mixed bag. She attempted to be a more technical fighter against Alexa Grasso but did not get much of anywhere until the third round, which saw her revert back to her old style and rely once again on her physicality and aggression, both of which paid off—though too late to prevent her from suffering another loss. Her controversial split decision win over fellow young talent Miranda Maverick in July was another confusing performance. Barber once again seemed to fight with a lot of the wrong ideas given her strengths, trying to move backwards and fight from range, but she still had enough horsepower to exploit some of the flaws in Maverick’s own game and get the ugly win. It is unclear where things are trending for Barber in the short term, but she can afford to have a messy transition phase in her career. She is an elite physical talent with legitimate heart as a fighter and is still about a month shy of her 24th birthday. Hopefully more questions will get answered in a solid test against De La Rosa.

De La Rosa did not head into the UFC with much hype, in part because she faced a sneakily tough level of competition prior to her career on the big stage. Two of her last three pre-UFC fights were one-sided losses to Mackenzie Dern and Cynthia Calvillo early in each woman’s career. Those losses highlighted the main issue in De La Rosa’s game. While she is well-schooled, she does hit a clear athletic wall against her most naturally talented opponents. It is a clear contrast to Barber, especially since De La Rosa seems to be working with all the right ideas. Initially mostly a wrestler and grappler, she has built out a solid boxing game that works well when she is given time and space to work. De La Rosa also spent 2021 showing off that she is an impressively grimy fighter, even when working from a disadvantage. She met two Brazilian brawlers in Mayra Bueno Silva and Ariane Lipski over the course of the year, taking the former to a draw and pounding out the latter on the mat. She figures to be a tough out here and could look a lot better after nearly a year out of the cage, but given De La Rosa’s historical struggles against top-tier athletes, Barber almost has to be the favorite despite the worries that she will approach this fight in a way that minimizes her strengths. The pick is Barber via ugly decision.

Continue Reading » Kape vs. Mudaerji

BetUS.com is offering our listeners an incredible 125% bonus on their deposit for UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammad 2. Use code SHERDOG and get $2500 in extra money to make fight night even better.