Erin Blanchfield won’t go home as a winner after UFC Vegas 107, but at least she’s paid that way.
The New Jersey veteran flyweight was unable to compete on Saturday night after the five-round main event was discarded just before opponent Maysay Barber was scheduled to compete and the athletes were scheduled to walk to the Octagon. The week of the Battle of Brunchfield was a disappointing end, but she doesn’t go home empty-handed.
The UFC paid Blanchefield both her show and a victory bonus for the unfortunate post-cancellation fight.
Oren Hodak, a longtime manager at KO rep, Blanchefield, confirmed the news about the MMA fight after first posting on his salary on Twitter.
That’s the best possible outcome for Blanchefield, given the situation where Barber is coming out of the fight in the final moments after missing the flyweight limit by half pound on Friday.
She obviously wanted to perform on Saturday, but when Blanchefield receives her full salary, she is given the opportunity to rest and recover from full training camp before booking her next appearance at the UFC.
Shortly after the fight was cancelled, Branchifield shot down a chance to rebook the fight against Barber at a later date, but she still wants a top-ranked opponent when she returns.
“No, I don’t want to book another fight with her,” Blanchfield said at a postwar press conference. “I want to reevaluate it, I want to see who is available.
“I still want to fight in the top five, but I’ll still push towards that title fight. Talk to the manager, talk to Mick (Maynard) and see what happens.”
Blanchefield continues to be one of the top potential challengers to current flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko after beating former UFC strawweight champion Rosenama Junas and beating Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 in May.