Maycee Barber is back on the schedule, and the UFC handed her a problem. Barber will face Carli Judice at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Wednesday. Aaron Bronsteter was first to post the matchup on X, citing a release, along with a second addition to the card: Quentin Pasley’s UFC debut against Junior Tafa.
For Judice, this is a real jump in competition. MMA Junkie called it a big step up, and that’s fair. She’s 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the UFC, and she hasn’t lost since her debut, a split decision against Gabriella Fernandes. She has won four in a row since then, three of them by strikes, and none of them gently. The latest came in August, when she sank a body kick into Jeisla Chaves and ended things 69 seconds in. Body-kick finishes are rare enough that people remember them.
Barber (15-3, 10-3 UFC) comes in off the worst night of her recent run. She had won seven straight, a streak that included wins over Amanda Ribas, Katlyn Cerminara and Karine Silva, before Alexa Grasso stopped her in March. MMA Junkie described Barber as bludgeoned in that one and called it one of the most violent finishes of the year. Nobody who watched it would push back.
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So Barber is coming off a brutal stoppage loss and walking straight into a striker who has been hurting people. Plenty of top-ranked fighters coming off a knockout get a softer landing. She didn’t.
Pasley Gets His Debut
The other new bout carries its own hype. Pasley is 4-0 and makes his first walk to the Octagon after earning a UFC contract with a win that prompted Dana White to compare him to Jon Jones. That is a heavy comparison to hang on a guy with four pro fights. Pasley trains under Nick Newell, the former WSOF title challenger.
Tafa (7-6, 3-6 UFC) is the man standing across from him, and he needs a win badly. He has dropped three of his last four. Being booked as the welcome mat for a debut the boss has already hyped isn’t a great spot, but it’s also the kind of fight that can rescue a UFC career if he wrecks the plan.
The Card So Far
UFC 335 is stacking up. Charles Oliveira defends the “BMF” title against Diego Lopes in a title fight for a belt that exists mostly for the photo op. Sergei Pavlovich meets Alex Pereira, Charles Johnson faces Brandon Moreno, and Joe Pyfer and Bo Nickal finally settle their business. Barber vs. Judice and Pasley vs. Tafa join that lineup.
My take: this is the right fight for both women, and it’s dangerous for Barber in a way her last few wins weren’t. Judice has the one weapon you don’t want to see after a knockout loss, a fighter who finishes with strikes and seems to enjoy it. If Barber is still the fighter who strung together seven straight, she should be able to drag Judice into deep water and wear her down. If March took something out of her, Judice will find it fast. I’ll be watching the first exchange to the body on Dec. 12.
