LAS VEGAS – Yana Santos felt she was fighting for her job at UFC on ESPN 61.
The women’s bantamweight veteran entered Saturday’s bout against Chelsea Chandler on a three-fight losing streak, with her last win coming in 2021. Santos (15-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) believed a fourth consecutive defeat could’ve cost her her job with the UFC.
“It was probably career-saving because I had three losses, and you never know what the UFC is going to do,” Santos said. “It doesn’t matter if my opponent misses weight, doesn’t matter if I came after delivery, it’s my problem, I accepted the fight.
“If I decide to go to Russia after delivery and go and fight is my problem, and they have all the right to cut me if I have four losses. I feel this was career-saving.”
Santos defeated Chandler (6-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a unanimous decision. Not only was the victory satisfying because she put an end to her losing streak, but also because Chandler had missed weight – something Santos didn’t take well.
Santos expected Chandler to use her perceived weight advantage in the bout, and was surprised it didn’t play a role in the fight.
“I felt her technique was so low in the part of wrestling,” Santos said. “What I was waiting is that she would be stronger and that she would put effort to put me down because that’s probably where she could use her weight, but it was pretty easy to defend the takedowns. It was a surprise for me because (the weight advantage) is important in wrestling and I thought it was going to use this.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.
