Erin Blanchfield has received some good news following a difficult few days.
Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was ready to make the walk to the Octagon for her main event matchup against Maycee Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 68 on Saturday night when she learned that Barber had been forced to withdraw due to a medical issue.
After spending months preparing for the fight, Blanchfield could understandably feel disappointed by the turn of events at the UFC Apex. However, that heartbreak has been eased somewhat by the news that the UFC will pay her both her show and win money.
“Yeah, Hunter (Campbell) came into the room and he told me that”, Blanchfield said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday. “He texted me too that I'll be paid everything for my show and win.”
In addition to being unable to make the walk to the Octagon, Barber also missed weight on Friday—meaning Blanchfield is entitled to an additional payout for that infraction. “Yes, I believe I still am getting like 20% of her like show money because she did show”, she told Helwani. “I mean, she showed up.”
Despite being paid without having to fight, the entire fight week experience has left a bad taste in Blanchfield’s mouth. “Yeah, you know, it's like bittersweet because it's like at least I was able to get paid”, the New York native said. “So it's like, I'll still be able to take care of myself in that sense. But, you know, I fight because I do really love it.
“You know, like it is a job and getting paid is important, but it is a passion job for me. So it was. It's still super deflating, I don't think I realized up until like you know yesterday and today, like how, how sad it is. I'm like so jealous that I wasn't able to fight or even like taking out my braids. It’s just…everything was so weird, like having done that without like having fought, so yeah, that was pretty upsetting.”
