Preview: UFC on ESPN 43 ‘Vera vs. Sandhagen’

Women’s Flyweights

#13 WFLW | Maycee Barber (11-2, 6-2 UFC) vs. #11 WFLW | Andrea Lee (13-6, 5-4 UFC)

ODDS: Barber (-275), Lee (+230)

This may not be the most engaging fight, but it is an interesting pairing that should answer some questions about each fighter. Barber’s development has been a bit frustrating at times, but “The Future” is still just 24 years old; that is part of the benefit of her making her UFC debut at age 20. Barber’s self-confidence was on display immediately upon her arrival on the greater radar, and that has served her well thus far, along with her impressive level of physicality. Most of Barber’s earlier victories saw her constantly pressure and attempt to run over her opponents with little regard for anything else, and it is an approach that worked more often than not. Then she ran into Roxanne Modafferi early in 2020 in a fight that was somewhat of a disaster in multiple ways. Modafferi had enough technical acumen to handle Barber despite a massive athletic disadvantage, and that was before the prospect suffered a major knee injury that would keep her out of action for over a year. Her return fight against Alexa Grasso was a tale of two bouts that has essentially told the tale of her career since. Barber is obviously putting in the work to be a more technical and thoughtful fighter but only finds much actual success once she abandons all that and goes to fighting behind her physicality. Even with her flaws, Barber has rebounded from losing to Grasso with three straight wins—enough to earn her another step back up in competition. To that end, this was the right fight to make against Lee.

Lee is nearly a decade older than her opponent but in much the same spot of attempting to leverage her physical tools into more consistent success. “KGB” was a hyped prospect almost immediately upon her pro debut in 2014, advertised as a kickboxer but typically more effective as a grinding physical force and powerful grappler. Lee got off to a solid start upon making it to the UFC in 2018, but she hit a clear wall attempting to get over the hump into championship contention. Opponents were able to separate themselves as faster strikers, while Lee could not make up the difference on the scorecards with her power in close quarters. A 2021 win over Cynthia Calvillo was a pleasant surprise in that it was the best outing of Lee’s career. She suddenly looked faster in a complete performance that saw her win via corner stoppage in between rounds. However, that momentum only lasted for five more minutes, as she had a hot first round against Viviane Araujo before absolutely collapsing down the stretch in their fight in May. That contrast between performances makes it hard to parse how Lee will look here, especially since this is a clearly winnable fight if she comes in on point. This could be a grimy encounter where these two just neutralize each other with their physicality, but Barber has shown the more consistent willingness to put her foot on the gas and sell out on offense in order to clinch a win, which is enough to favor her in what is essentially a coinflip. The pick is Barber via decision.

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Vera vs. Sandhagen
Holm vs. Santos
Landwehr vs. Lingo
Barber vs. Lee
Kape vs. Perez
Njokuani vs. Duraev
The Prelims