Preview: UFC on ESPN 61 ‘Tybura vs. Spivak 2’

Women’s Bantamweights

#12 WBW | Yana Santos (14-8, 4-5 UFC) vs. #14 WBW | Chelsea Chandler (6-2, 2-1 UFC)

ODDS: Santos (-142), Chandler (+120)

This is the latest fight to help sort things out in a women’s bantamweight division that always seems to be sorting itself out. Santos is quietly on a three-fight losing skid, but “Foxy” is still entrenched as a solid veteran gatekeeper at the absolute worst. She’s strong enough to clinch up with most anyone, and while her striking isn’t the prettiest, she brings enough activity to the table to keep opponents honest. The end result might not be the most electric fights, but Santos is the reliably tough out who helps keep a lot of divisions humming, even if she’s only now working her way back into an active schedule due to pregnancy. This time around, Santos draws Chandler, who brings some interesting things to the table.

There’s not a lot to Chandler’s striking, but she’s willing to move forward and eat damage in the hopes of getting to her wrestling game, since being on top of opponents is where she’s at her best. It’s still a bit hard to calibrate exactly how well Chandler’s approach works at the UFC level. She was establishing herself as a featherweight prior to the UFC and still hasn’t actually made the 135-pound bantamweight limit. Plus, she got stalled out and punished badly against Norma Dumont in 2023 before rebounding with a win over Josiane Nunes in March. The lean is that Santos can neutralize Chandler’s wrestling enough to outpoint the American on the feet. The pick is Santos via decision.

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Tybura vs. Spivak
Gutierrez vs. Le
Barlow vs. Veretennikov
Mariscal vs. Jackson
Santos vs. Chandler
Grigoriou vs. Kazama
The Prelims