Just as the fighters were scheduled to make the walkout for the UFC Vegas 107 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday, the headlining fight was abruptly canceled.
No. 4 ranked Erin Blanchfield was pitted against No. 5 ranked Maycee Barber in a fight that could have determined the next title challenger, but the two never stepped foot inside the octagon.
As she was about to make her way to the cage, Barber had a medical issue and wasn’t cleared to fight. Blanchfield was informed of the fight cancelation by UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell.
“Hunter came in, he was saying that she was having a seizure and he’s having medical issues and she’s not going to be able to fight,” Blanchfield told ESPN MMA.
“I knew when I saw him (Campbell) that it wasn’t something good because he was kind of like being real serious. I feel like I’m just in a little disbelieve.”
The cancellation came at the last possible moment. Barber was lined up to make her walk out and turned back around to return to her locker room. Blanchfield was informed to be ready to make the walk by UFC staff.
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“We already were told, ‘six minutes until the walk out.’ We already warmed up. I hit pads. I was warming up with my training partner. I was literally ready to go,” said Blanchfield. “I feel like I can already smell the cage. Like, I was ready. And then we just go the news.”
“I feel like it’s pretty rare on fight day that somebody pulls out especially they missed weight so they didn’t push super hard in the weight cut. They probably recovered well. Yeah, I didn’t expect this.”
Blanchfield would have entered the bout having won 10 of her last 11 fights and was coming off a decision win over former two-time strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas. With a solid performance, she could have earned a title shot.
