UFC 274’s Macy Chiasson: “If Amanda Wants to Fight at 145, I’m Here.”

Phoenix, AZ — The Ultimate Fighter 28 winner Macy Chiasson got back in the win column at UFC 274, in the division she won the show at.

Chiasson (8-2) had dropped to bantamweight upon entering the UFC proper in 2019, and has posted a respectable 4-1 record there. But in her last two fights, she’s been at featherweight, and on Saturday, she halted the win streak of Brazilian 145’er Norma Dumont.

“I worked my ass off for this fight. I didn’t have one day off, and I worked all different areas of MMA, basically living at the gym,” Chiasson told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. Well, she did go home at night, Chiasson admitted. “But coaches would come into the gym and be like ‘what are you doing here? Take a break.'”

The reason for her newfound dedication to training is simple. “It’s not going to get any easier, these girls aren’t getting any nicer,” said Chiasson. “They’re all extremely tough, and I feel like I’ve got to catch up. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

That work has started to pay off already, as seen against Dumont. “I feel like I really proved that I’ve really strengthened my grappling, I’ve really strengthened my wrestling, I was able to really grapple and kind of handle a true 145’er really well.” Of course, with the fight ending in a split decision, there’s room for improvement. “There’s a lot I need to go back to the drawing board and work on, there’s always things to work on, but I knew this fight was going to be mine. No one was going to take this away from me. I worked too hard to get here. I’m ready to do more. It’s super emotional, because like I said it’s just been non-stop. It’s not going to get any easier, so I’ve just got to keep going.”

The plan moving forward for the TUF winner is to juggle divisions. But she wants to make some noise at featherweight.

“I’m loving fighting at 45 and 35, so we’ll see what we’re going to do. I really wanted to come into 45 and stir some things up. So we’ll see what we catch,” said Chiasson. And if that’s the champ, all the better. Amanda Nunes might be focused on reclaiming her bantamweight title for now, but when her focus shifts back to featherweight, Chiasson is game.

“If Amanda wants to fight at 145, I’m here. I’m willing to get ready for that fight.”

Watch the full UFC 274 post-fight press conference appearance by Macy Chiasson above. More coverage from the event can be found below.