Miranda Maverick explains how UFC on ESPN 27 fight vs. Maycee Barber is both good and bad matchmaking

LAS VEGAS – Before the fight offer came, Miranda Maverick had one name in mind she hoped not to fight. As it turns out, the UFC had said fight in their plans and matched her up with fellow prospect Maycee Barber.

Days out from the matchup, which takes place Saturday at UFC on ESPN 27, Maverick (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is taking the fight against Barber (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in stride. Despite her hopes of taking out the old guard before knocking off a fellow prospect, Maverick sees some of the upsides, too.

“I (didn’t) want it,” Maverick told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “It was the only fight I didn’t want because I think we’re both very young prospects. I think we both have a future in the sport. She’s already on a two-fight losing streak. She’s going to be on a three-fight losing streak and now you’ve knocked somebody who could’ve been a very good prospect out of the division that’s very stagnant and has a bunch of older women. I think they should get some of the older women to fight some of these young prospects coming up instead of knocking us out against each other.

“I just think it’s bad matchmaking from that perspective, (but) good matchmaking from the perspective of our own styles. It’s absolutely an amazing fight. It’s the fan-favorite fight. I knew that the first time I met her. The cameraman was like, ‘Go back in the elevator. Now, come back out. Let me videotape you meeting Maycee Barber.’ I was like, ‘All right, we already know what’s going on here, right? But it’s really good stylistically. I just wish we had been No. 4-ranked and No. 5-ranked, that kind of thing instead of No. 14 vs. No. 15 or No. 15 vs. No. 13 or whatever.”

UFC on ESPN 27 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex. The card airs on ESPN.

Check out the full UFC on ESPN 27 pre-fight news conference with Miranda Maverick in the video above.