Raquel Pennington earned a big win at UFC Vegas 45, defeating short-notice replacement Macy Chiasson via second-round submission.
One of three fighters to miss weight for UFC Vegas 45 was Macy Chiasson.
Despite competing as a bantamweight ever since winning The Ultimate Fighter 28 at 145lbs, it was the featherweight limit Chiasson missed on Friday for her fight with Raquel Pennington. Missing weight by 2.5 pounds to make the featherweight bout a catchweight affair.
Chiasson would go on to blame the miss for taking the fight on 10 days’ notice, and there’s no doubt some truth in that. What remained to be seen is how it would affect her in the bout itself.
Round one was a wild frame, as both women came out firing to start the fight. Chaisson seemed to be the busier fighter and was landing the harder strikes, putting together combinations. Pennington was firing back and landing some good counters, but it was clear that her punches didn’t have the same effect. One of the biggest moments of the round was Chiasson getting a big takedown and landing on top in half guard, landing some nice ground and pound to end the round.
Pennington opened up with a big combination to start round two, as she seemingly rocked her in the opening seconds. Chiasson was able to rally back and land a good right hand of her own, which led to a failed takedown attempt by Pennington. Pennington continued to work, however, and landed a big combination that forced Chiasson to shoot for a takedown. During the failed takedown attempt, Pennington locked up a ten-finger choke and got the second-round submission victory.
The first person to ever finish Macy Chiasson!
[ @RockyPMMA | #UFCVegas45 ] pic.twitter.com/dqgaphjZq7
— UFC (@ufc) December 18, 2021
With the win, Raquel Pennington has now won three fights in a row to throw her back into UFC title contention. She also becomes the first fighter to stop Chiasson.
Official Result: Raquel Pennington def. Macy Chiasson by submission (ten-finger choke), Round 2, 3:07
