Maycee Barber's possible return date from injury revealed after UFC 246 loss

Maycee Barber is still 21-years-old and is looking to become the youngest champion in UFC history - a record currently held by Jon Jones at the age of 23. However, she suffered a major setback as she was defeated by Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246.

She was the biggest favorite of the night to win but she tore her ACL, something that the doctor pointed out in-between rounds. ACL tears take a long time to recover and Brett Okamoto of ESPN revealed that the young prospect will be out for an estimated 9 months due to the injury:

Maycee Barber (@MayceeBarber) underwent successful surgery on her torn ACL moments ago in Milwaukee, per her father. Procedure was done by Dr. Michael Gordon, former team physician of the Milwaukee Bucks. Expected timeframe for full recovery is nine months.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 10, 2020

Barber was recently slammed by former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping, who wasn't a fan of the way she dealt with her loss. He felt she was making too many excuses and didn't like the fact that she blamed the doctor for pinpointing the injury. On his podcast Believe You Me, he said (H/T Credit BodyLockMMA):

"Let’s say it’s really f*****g torn and it’s bad, you can call off the fight and say she’s not fit to fight and she’s going to do herself more damage. He was looking out for her. I get it, she’s a young fighter, it’s her first loss, she’s not used to dealing with it. But, it’s not a good look.”

Bisping told her that she won't get fans by "b**ching about it" and advised her to buckle up and accept that she was defeated by the better woman on the night. Bisping is likely just looking out for Barber, who has been highly regarded as a future Champion.

Hopefully, she'll return better than ever after her ACL injury. A long period of rest is required before she returns to the Octagon and if she wants to beat Jones to the record, she's going to have to win the Championship by 2021.

However, that's all easier said than done since Valentina "The Bullet" Shevchenko is still reigning supreme as the Flyweight Queen and she doesn't look like she's slowing down any time soon.