Maycee Barber out of UFC 269 fight vs. Erin Blanchfield; replacement being sought

Maycee Barber won’t be fighting at UFC 269.

Like her originally-scheduled opponent Montana De La Rosa, Barber (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has withdrawn from the Dec. 11 pay-per-view event for an undisclosed reason. Erin Blanchfield, who replaced De La Rosa in mid-October is expected to remain on the card.

Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the withdrawal Friday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Coach Urijah Faber referenced Barber’s possible withdrawal on the LFA 117 broadcast Friday.

While the promotion has not finalized a replacement, an anonymous source tells MMA Junkie the current frontrunner to face Blanchfield (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is highly-touted flyweight Miranda Maverick (9-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

Blanchfield, 22, made her promotional debut Sept. 18 when she defeated Sarah Alpar via unanimous decision. The win extended her streak to four. As for Maverick, she competed against Barber last and suffered a close split decision loss.

UFC 269 takes place Dec. 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.

With the change, the UFC 269 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier – for lightweight title
• Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena – for women’s bantamweight title
• Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Kai Kara-France
• Sean O’Malley vs. Raulian Paiva

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

• Geoff Neal vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
• Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz
• Josh Emmett vs. Dan Ige
• Dricus Du Plessis vs. Andre Muniz
• Erin Blanchfield vs. TBA

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

• Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
• Ryan Hall vs. Darrick Minner
• Priscila Cachoeira vs. Gillian Robertson
• Randy Costa vs. Tony Kelley
• Bruno Silva vs. Jordan Wright