“Imagine signing a contract and showing up overweight again. Some of us respect the grind. Others disrespect the sport.” Yana Santos had already expressed her disdain after bantamweight veteran Macy Chiasson came in at 137.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds over the limit, for their non-title fight. This, of course, meant Chiasson forfeits 25% of her purse and the fight proceeds at a catchweight. 

On fight night, Yana Santos outworked Macy Chiasson in a gritty three-round battle at UFC 320. Santos controlled key moments in the clinch and defended takedowns effectively. After a close, scrappy fight featuring late ground exchanges, Santos earned a unanimous decision win with triplicate 29-28 scorecards. However, the 35-year-old Russian fighter wasn’t ready to let go of Chiasson’s weight miss. 

Yana Santos lashes out at Chiasson after UFC 320 win

“I’m upset because almost every opponent [I face is] missing weight,” a frustrated Santos said during her post-fight interview. She was particularly offended that Chiasson didn’t apologize for her mistake. “No one asked me if I want to fight or not,” Santos added. She recalled approaching Chiasson in hopes of an apology, but instead, she received a dismissive response. “She told me that you got paid for this. Like, why I complain,” Santos revealed.

The Russian fighter made it clear that money isn’t her main motivation. “I feel like this thing that you see not give enough punishment for fighter who miss weight,” she continued. “I think it’s biggest reason why a lot of people missing weight.” To address the issue, Santos proposed harsher penalties. “If you get at least 50 % fine and one point deduction, I think it will be much less people who do this,” she said.

When asked whether she preferred a point deduction or a higher financial penalty, Santos didn’t hesitate. “I think sure it’s a point deduction because if you miss weight, you get 25 % from your fight but you still get your win bonus 100%,” she explained during the presser. This is reminiscent of Israel Adesanya‘s plea to Dana White after UFC 253.

After his teammate’s opponent missed weight, Adesanya had said, “F-ck that, some of these guys are gangsters, they’re making money outside the UFC. Thirty percent ain’t sh-t to them, so they’ll give up that to not make the weight and have 90 minutes to keep on making the weight. And they’re just ‘f-ck it’ drinking their water and whatnot… Thirty percent’s not enough, make it 90 percent and that way I guarantee you they will spend every of those seconds and that 90 minutes trying to make the weight and not just b-tch out.”

For Santos, even with the victory, Chiasson’s weight miss left a bitter taste. Regardless, the funny part is that Chiasson thought she won the fight. 

Macy Chiasson screams she won before being handed a loss

For Macy Chiasson, the night at UFC 320 didn’t quite go as she may have planned. Santos outlanded Chiasson in the first two rounds and even landed a brutal front kick to the face in Round 2. After being dominated in most of the rounds in the prelims, the final round finally went Chiasson’s way. 

Chiasson went all out, nearly locking in a rear-naked choke. As the fight came to a close, Chiasson was confident that she had managed to tip the scales in her favor. “Macy’s pointing to herself [like she won],” Joe Rogan noted, while Daniel Cormier added, “I don’t know that she won that second round.” Hearing the commentators, Chiasson yelled, “I f—— won!”

But moments later, all three judges scored the fight for Santos. “F—,” Chiasson muttered in disbelief.

It appears that Yana Santos wasn’t happy with Chiasson’s attitude towards making weight from the start. While her win may have been satisfying, she clearly holds a grudge against her opponent’s attitude. What do you think of Santos’ demand for harsher punishment?