Maycee Barber and Alexa Grasso are facing off as the Co-Main Event of UFC 258: Usman vs Burns. This co-main event should be a fun one with Maycee Barber making her return after her tearing her ACL against Modafferi. Maycee Barber is 8-1 so far in her young career with her only loss being in the fight where she tore her ACL, but prior to that, she was on a run with a 3 fight win streak in the UFC with all KO finishes in those fights. Alexa Grasso is 12-3 with a 3-3 record in the UFC, and it's important to note that all three of her losses were against grapplers.
Maycee Barber is hoping she can pick up right where she left off at. Maycee Barber is a heavy-hitting striker who likes to close the distance quickly. The hope is that she isn't going to be hesitant after she sustained such a critical injury since her motor is what made her so deadly. Maycee Barber rush'em down style has served her well so far resulting in five straight KO/TKO finishes. With that said Maycee Barber has a tendency to get countered and has lacked head movement in the past.
Alexa Grasso is a technical boxer who has struggled against grapplers but has breezed against her fellow strikers. Alexa Grasso likes to fight from the outside, opposite of Maycee Barber who prefers the inside. Alexa Grasso while an elite boxer will not go for the finish instead scoring points for a decision victory.
This fight has seen some major line movement with Barber opening as the favorite before shifting to the underdog before finally becoming a near even underdog. There are multiple reasons for this as Maycee Barber is the more popular fighter but lacks the resume of Grasso who has fought better competition. The biggest thing though is that Barber is coming off a major injury and if she hasn't recovered physically or mentally she will get torched by Grasso's better boxing. Barber's greatest weapon is her confidence and her willingness to step forward, if she has doubt Grasso will just pick her apart from the outside. This fight is one that is best bet live, as a way to see if the knee is an issue or not, another thing to watch for is the head movement and defense of Barber to see if it has improved.
