Maycee Barber will not fight Carli Judice at UFC 335. Mike Heck of MMA Fighting reported the withdrawal on November 7, after the news first surfaced in a post from realkevink on X. No reason has been given for Barber leaving the card. According to Heck, the UFC intends to reschedule the matchup instead of finding Judice a replacement opponent, which means the promotion’s last numbered event of 2026 drops a fight.
The bout was reported last month and was set for December. For Barber, it was supposed to be the first step back after her loss to Alexa Grasso earlier this year. That ending was one of the most violent finishes of 2026, and it was easily the worst night of the 28-year-old’s career. A December return would have answered some uncomfortable questions about how she responds to a knockout of that size. Those questions now carry into 2027.
The Grasso loss also ended a long run of winning. Barber came into that fight on a six-fight win streak, but the streak never produced the momentum it should have. Significant health problems kept getting in the way, and she has fought only once a year for the last three years. Six straight wins is a contender’s résumé. Six straight wins spread across that much calendar time tends to leave a fighter ranked on reputation, never quite in the title conversation.
Judice is coming from the opposite direction. She lost her UFC debut and has won four in a row since then. Barber was set to be her first chance against an established name at flyweight, the kind of opponent who can move a prospect into the rankings conversation with one performance. The structure of the matchup was simple: a Barber win puts her back among the division’s top names, and a Judice win turns a contender’s comeback into a launch for someone new.
That is why the decision to wait matters. Booking Judice against a short-notice replacement would have kept a fight on the card but cost her the opponent she earned. It also could have exposed her to a late-notice wrestler with nothing to lose. The UFC chose to keep the matchup intact. Barber has long been a fighter the promotion has backed, and holding the fight suggests it sees value in either outcome.
My take: Rebooking is the correct call, and I don’t think it’s especially close. Judice has done the work since that debut loss, and four straight wins should get you a real name instead of whoever answers the phone in late November. The worry is on Barber’s side. We still don’t know why she’s out, and I won’t guess at it, but this is another stretch away from the Octagon for a fighter who has made one walk a year since 2024. Flyweight is too deep for that pace. If she’s back on a card by spring, the Grasso knockout becomes one bad night in a strong run. If this drags into the summer, Judice will have spent most of a year waiting on a fight she could have used to climb, and I’d understand completely if her team starts asking for someone else.
