Macy Chiasson sees path to Amanda Nunes, has ‘bunch of gangster girls’ to fight first
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Macy Chiasson has been on an impressive bantamweight title run since winning TUF 28.
The Fortis MMA prospect looks to continue the 8-fight win streak that stems from her amateur career when she faces Lina Lansberg at UFC on ESPN+ 18 this month.
Lansberg has a 9-4 record and recently picked up a win against Tonya Evinger at UFC on ESPN+ 11. She holds losses against some of the best women in the sport, fighting Cris Cyborg, Aspen Ladd, and Pannie Kianzad.
Chiasson is 5-0 and doesn’t like leaving it in the hands of the judges. With recent wins over Sarah Moras and Gina Mazany, Chiasson has proven she belongs in the UFC, amongst the upper echelon of the division.
Starting MMA as a Hobby
Born a perfectionist, Macy knew that she would eventually attempt to train MMA full-time.
Stuck with the obsession she formed with the sport over time, after graduating college, Chiasson wanted to go pro. She always knew that her MMA dreams had an expiration date.
“I don’t want to look back, sit at a desk, be a job that I’m not too thrilled to be at, and say, ‘Wow I could have really did this.’ This could have been a legacy.”
If you ask Macy, her legacy is why she does it. “It’s about accomplishing things I never thought I could,” said Chiasson. “You never know where life is going to take you.”
She eventually packed her bags and moved to Dallas.
The rest is currently being written.
Moving to Dallas and Fortis MMA
The bantamweight star moved to Dallas just last year. A few months back, when the crane hit her apartment, Macy had to spend some time in New Orleans with her family. Now back in Dallas for fight camp, Chiasson looks to move forward after losing everything and having to start over.
“Of course it’s not easy starting over,” said Chiasson. “All I can say is that I’m blessed to have a great team and I’m healthy. That’s really all you need in a fight camp.”
Having 3-4 sessions a day is no joke. But Macy is a perfectionist, so her mind is consistently raising a new bar for her to reach. “If there’s something that I’m even half way bad at, I gotta keep doing it until I get good at it,” said Chiasson.
Making the move to Fortis MMA was crucial in her MMA career. It’s a gym that accepted her obsession with perfection and helped mold her discipline. “We’re still working there. It’s blood, sweat, and tears,” said Chiasson. “Everyone has put in some sort of hard work in there.”
“It’s crazy to see the amount of UFC guys in that room when we are all training.”
Being immersed in a culture of hard work and people who strive to be the best has been beneficial for Macy, who is 3-0 under the UFC banner. Her teammates contribute every single day and although everyone is pushing to train at 110%, they train with respect and humbleness.
She also has plenty of killers to work with during fight camp, which is always a plus.
Making Bantamweight her “Home”
Although Chiasson won TUF 28 at featherweight, the division hasn’t progressed as much as fans would have liked. UFC has made a small attempt to build the 145 pound division, but it hasn’t been enough. With slim pickings for opponents, Macy knew bantamweight had a sea of competitors to test herself against before making a true run for the title.
“It’s a whole different level of training for me to fight at 135,” said Chiasson. “I feel like I really needed to move to 135 to fight at my full potential.”
She was training hard at 145 pounds, but there wasn’t much more to it. Macy feels like she’s in the best shape at 135, she focuses more on the cardio and nutrition than ever before.
“If I did move back up to 145, I would know how to do it the right way and be even stronger in that weight class.”
It’s clear Macy performs well at bantamweight. But if you feel she’s strong because of the weight cut, you’re wrong. Chiasson is just as strong, if not stronger, at featherweight.
But no matter the weight class, there’s always been one person on her mind.
Preying on “The Lioness”
When it’s all said and done, Chiasson wants to leave a legacy that lives on forever. And immortality only comes to champions.
“I think I will be seeing Amanda Nunes across for me,” said Chiasson when asked about who she thinks she’ll face when it comes time to fight for the belt. “That’s something I wake up to everyday. That’s the fight that I see in the future.”
There may be other fights to focus on, and Lina Lansberg may be dangerous in her own ways, but Macy is not shy to admit it’s not the fight she’s hyped about. It’s an inevitable showdown with “The Lioness” that gets her up every morning to train hard.
“That’s my goal. That’s why I’m here, I’m not here to just be in the UFC.”
Names like Holly Holm, Aspen Ladd, Yana Kunitskaya, and Julianna Pena are just some that will be part of Macy’s journey. The goal for Macy is to one day be standing across from Amanda. Even though she knows there’s a whole line of, “gangster girls” she must get through first.
“It’s the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Macy about her future title shot. “We’re there, we see it. Just gotta keep on moving.”
Until then, Macy is “ready to work and continue to work,” as she knows it’s only going to get busier after cracking the top-10.
Listen to our full interview with Macy Chiasson on The Scrap’s official SoundCloud:
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Joel Torres is a co-owner of The Scrap and its current CEO. Torres is obsessed with MMA and holds a Masters of Science in Integrated Design, Business and Technology from University of Southern California. Make sure to follow Joel on Twitter (@joelisacoolkid).
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