UFC Jacksonville results: Maycee Barber scores second-round knockout of Amanda Ribas in bloody battle

Maycee Barber won a bloody battle in the toughest test of her career thus far.

“The Future” made the most of her UFC Jacksonville co-main event opportunity, putting on a show against a game Amanda Ribas (12-4) in a flyweight fight that left both women bleeding profusely from their faces. It was Barber (13-2) who gutted out the victory with a flurry of offense in the second round that forced referee Keith Peterson to step in for the stoppage.

Watch the amazing finishing sequence below.

The official time of the stoppage was 3:42 into Round 2.

Make that five straight wins now for Barber, who picks up her first finish since a TKO of Gillian Robertson in October 2019. The 25-year-old put together a run of hard-fought decision victories before shutting down Ribas inside the distance.

“It feels like I just warned the whole 125-pound division that I’m back and I’m coming for all of these finishes,” Barber said in her post-fight interview. “I feel like Amanda and I got the Fight of the Night and I would like the crowd to emphasize that.”

Barber drew first blood in Round 1 with a left hand that cracked Ribas’ nose and the sight of Crimson spurred her on. Afterwards, Barber compared herself to strawweight Tabatha Ricci — a.k.a. “Baby Shark” — who was victorious against Robertson earlier in the evening.

“I feel like I’m actually like Tabatha Ricci, I’m a shark,” Barber said. “I’m going to come for that blood, when I see it I’m coming for it.”

Ribas gave Barber everything she could handle in the contest, coming forward relentlessly and attacking with low kicks and fast punches. But Barber met her blow-for-blow from the start as she countered with heavy leather that landed with more consistency as the bout progressed. By the mid-point of Round 2, both women’s faces were covered in blood.

Ribas’ efforts to take the fight to the ground may have worked against her as Barber stuffed Ribas’ submission attempts after being taken down and worked her way to top position where she landed hard ground-and-pound. That was actually how the fight ended as a short, powerful left from Barber stunned Ribas and caused her to go for a desperation takedown. However, Barber simply poured on the ground strikes with Ribas hanging onto her leg until the fight was called.

A two-division threat, Ribas has now alternated wins and losses in her past six fights while competing at strawweight and flyweight.