5 Things You Might Not Know About Erin Blanchfield

Erin Blanchfield may have only just begun to scratch the surface—a sobering thought for her contemporaries.

“Cold Blooded” will look to hold her spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight hierarchy when she takes on Maycee Barber in the UFC on ESPN 68 headliner on May 31 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Blanchfield, 26, has rattled off 10 wins across her past 11 appearances. She last competed at UFC Fight Night 246, where she laid claim to a five-round unanimous decision over two-time champion Rose Namajunas on Nov. 2.

As Blanchfield moves ever closer to her looming confrontation with Barber at 115 pounds, here are five things you might not know about her:

1. Her runway was short.

Blanchfield made her professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 18 on March 17, 2018, when she prompted a doctor stoppage against Whittany Pyles in between the first and second rounds of their encounter at a Cage Fury Fighting Championships show. She went on to post a 3-1 record as a teenager.

2. Grappling provides her backbone.

The New York native holds the rank of black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Karel Pravec, and she has certainly put those skills to use. Blanchfield was the first female winner of the Eddie Bravo Invitational in 2017, then transitioned seamlessly to MMA. She has since nailed down four of her 13 pro victories by submission, utilizing four different methods while doing so: keylock, guillotine choke, kimura and rear-naked choke.

3. She rarely has to check baggage.

Blanchfield has fought only once outside of North America. She outpointed Taila Santos to a three-round unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 225 on Aug. 26, 2023 in Kallang, Singapore.

4. Adversity remains something of a foreign entity.

The Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu rep went more than 1,800 days between losses. Blanchfield suffered her first setback in a three-round split decision defeat to Tracy Cortez under the Invicta Fighting Championships banner in February 2019. She did not lose again until she dropped a unanimous verdict to Manon Fiorot at UFC on ESPN 54 in March 2024.

5. Big names bolster her resume.

Despite her young age and relative inexperience, Blanchfield already holds wins over two former UFC champions. Besides her aforementioned victory against Namajunas, she dispatched onetime women’s strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 219 main event on Feb. 18, 2023.