Maycee Barber already faced a lifetime’s worth of adversity just to make her return at UFC 323, but an illegal kick combined with the referee telling her she wasn’t hurt, only added that much more for
her to overcome.
Following a long 21-month layoff that included multiple hospital stays and doctors desperately searching for answers, Barber finally got back to work this past December where she earned a unanimous decision over Karine Silva to extend her overall win streak to seven in a row. Despite a largely dominant showing during the three-round fight, Barber got blasted with an illegal upkick on the ground, which led to a pause in the action but referee Mark Smith immediately told her it was just a “glancing” blow and that she needed to decide if she wanted to continue.
In the moment, Barber admits she was supremely confused by what was happening because she actually believed she did something wrong. Instead, Barber knows the referee just made a huge mistake by effectively claiming she wasn’t actually hurt from the illegal kick.
“The second time when she threw it, she landed it and all I remember was as soon as she hit me, I remember my face and my neck feeling like I hit my funny bone,” Barber told MMA Fighting. “Everything’s tingly. I was like what the heck? I thought that was the second time she hit me, for a second there and then I told him ‘that’s the second time!’ He was like ‘that didn’t hit you’ or something. All I remember him telling me is ‘stop’ and I thought I was in trouble. I’m like I’m in trouble? What did I do? I was kind of confused at first.
“Also when I watched the fight back, I wobbled. I was wobbly. He did tell me to stop. I was wondering why he was telling me. When I was listening to it back, he was like ‘that was not a hard blow, stop.’ I thought I was in trouble. I was so confused at the time. I was scared that he was going to stop the fight and that I did something wrong. I was like oh no, they’re going to stop the fight.”
Replays showed the kick definitely hit Barber flush, but the referee didn’t want to give her time to recover so she had to keep going no matter how hurt she may have been.
“He came over there asking me what was going on. I was like I’m fine, I’m a little dizzy but I’m fine,” Barber explained. “I don’t know why you guys are asking me for, I’m a little dizzy but I’m fine. I realized, something happened, she kicked me and I knew she had kicked me. I was like if I feel like this, I need to take her down. I need a little time but I guess I’m going to take her down. That’s my plan. I’m going to go take her down and I took her down.
“When I watched it back, she did kick me and obviously I was wobbled. He did tell me ‘that was a glancing blow’ and ‘stop.’ I was surprised. The intention of the upkick when someone kicks you, is to get up. Her intention was to kick and get up. In my mind, if you’re the ref, you would put someone back down on the ground. At least put her back down on the ground, if not take a point or both. It is what it is.”
The UFC broadcast team admonished the call during the event, especially after video evidence proved that Barber definitely took a hard shot from the illegal kick. Smith didn’t give Barber back the position on the ground and he also failed to penalize Silva for the foul.
As much as Barber understands that refereeing is often viewed as a thankless profession, she still trusts the officials to look out for the best interest of the athletes and Smith simply didn’t do his job that night.
That’s why Barber never wants to see Smith as the third person in the cage when she’s competing.
“I was told several times this is a great ref, and from my perspective now, I’m like I don’t want him reffing my fights at all,” Barber said. “I don’t feel safe in there with him anymore. I don’t feel like he’s a very fair ref.
“People have bad days so I try not to be too harsh, but at the same time, that’s my job. My job is on the line. He can have a bad day at work, but he’s going to get paid regardless. It kind of sucks that we have us athletes that have to go in and have people that can have off days and still get paid and risk our jobs.”
Barber revealed the referee wasn’t the only person who made an error in her fight.
“I was watching the fight and there was a time in the second round, my coach actually told me about it, when she got me in the triangle [choke], at the very end of the round, the guy that was in control of the timer, he forgot to hit the time,” Barber said. “There was a spot where there was like 10 seconds at the end of the round where the triangle shouldn’t have even happened. That whole sequence wouldn’t have happened because the round would have ended.
“I just watched it back today, I was like oh that’s cool. We pretty much would have been at the end of the round and she wouldn’t have even had that. Stuff happens and there’s human error in things. It is what it is. We’re here and I got the unanimous decision and it is fine.”
In the end, Barber was happy to get the win and now she’s moving forward with hopes of getting a marquee fight to start 2026 with designs to then get a title shot and hopefully earn a spot on one of the most talked about cards of the year.
“Ideally, I’m trying to get a quick turnaround,” Barber said. “Whoever’s available if Alexa [Grasso is] injured. We’ll see. If they want to give me a title shot, sure. We’ll see who’s available because everyone’s got booked. I already have been talking with Mick [Maynard] and the UFC so we’ll see what’s up. Right now, I’m pretty much healthy. So I’m just going to be ready. I had such a long layoff, I don’t want a long layoff.
“I want to turn around and fight. I want to be back in a camp again. I want to be preparing for another one. Just be ready. It would be great to be ready to fight in February and then turn around and fight at the White House.”
