Despite snapping her three-fight losing streak in impressive fashion, Russian bantamweight Yana Santos continued her fight well after the final bell as she took aim at Chelsea Chandler’s ‘disrespectful’ pre-fight antics.
On Friday, there were some major concerns that the bantamweight fight between Yana Santos and Chelsea Chandler would be scrapped given that the American came in 141lbs – an issue that Santos was certainly fixated on following her win at The Apex last night.
Bantamweight Yana Santos earns the unanimous decision win at UFC Vegas 95
Prior to UFC Vegas 95 last night, 34-year-old bantamweight contender Yana Santos hadn’t won a fight in the promotion since her decision victory over Ketlen Vieira all the way back in February 2021.
Yet the former Invicta champion made easy work of Chelsea Chandler at The Apex, out-landing the American 94-56 on significant strikes and scoring a crucial knockdown en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory.
Speaking to Michael Bisping after the judges’ scorecards were announced, an emotional Santos would agree with The Count’s take that she was fighting ‘angry’ and it’s not difficult to see why she took issue with Chandler missing the bantamweight limit by a whopping five pounds.
Yana Santos slams ‘fat’ Chelsea Chandler over ‘disrespectful’ weight miss
“It pisses me off so much,” she lamented to Bisping on her opponent’s chaos on the scales, revealing that she didn’t even want to compete after witnessing such a dramatic weight miss and that she had to be talked into accepting the bout by her teammates.
“It just feels so unfair here… For two months, I’m eating super clean, I’m a big girl and I’m doing my best to always be on weight, and I feel a girl [Chandler] like this did not try [to make weight].
“She came [in] fat, she didn’t try to make weight… It’s impossible to miss by five pounds and not say anything like ‘I’m sorry or I feel bad’, just miss and go so it makes me very angry.”
Santos continued her verbal assault on Chandler over the perceived lack of discipline when speaking to the UFC News crew backstage.
“I felt it was so unfair because for me, I’m a big girl… I’m not small. It’s [been] two months, and I had a very strong diet. I never miss weight and always do my job to be there. She came in fat, missing five pounds… This means she didn’t even try.”
The Russian bantamweight reiterated that there was an added layer of disrespect over the situation due to a lack of communication, and apology, on the part of Chandler.
“Not a single person from her team said sorry even after the fight! This is so disrespectful. There is no punishment for this. [Three of my last five opponents] missed weight and there is no point deduction even.”
“To have a small percentage [taken] from a small salary is nothing compared to the damage [we take],” rightfully argued Santos, adding at the post-fight press conference how any weight discrepancy, whether its 1lbs or 5lbs, can come back to haunt the fighter who’s made the contractually agreed-upon limit.
“There is no punishment. You can have an advantage and win a fight. You can then get a higher salary… I am a big girl. I am keeping the body fat percentage low [to make weight] and putting my health at risk.
“[But] she can just come in five pounds overweight? If you don’t put your body through all this stress, you have a big advantage [in the fight].”
Heading into UFC Vegas 95, Santos was the #12 ranked bantamweight in the world with Chandler having occupied the #14 spot.
Given that the #11 ranked Pannie Kianzad lost her fight against #8 Karol Rosa earlier in the evening, don’t be surprised if we see ‘Foxy’ entering the Top 10 come Tuesday’s update.