ABSOLUTE CHAOS AND FANFARE AFTER PEÑA WON #UFC269 pic.twitter.com/e0dNAdKBkn
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 12, 2021
When Pena submitted Nunes with a rear-naked choke in the second-round in the UFC 269 co-main event, video footage from promotion broadcast partner ESPN captures Chiesa climbing over the railing in an attempt to rush the Octagon in the immediate aftermath of the fight. According to UFC president Dana White, Chiesa suffered some minor cuts and bruises before being escorted out of the arena by police. The incident was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com with someone from Chiesa's camp.
“How do I say this without embarrassing the guy,” White said at the UFC 269 post-fight press conference. “He had a little bit too much to drink this evening. When she won, he freaked out and tried to jump into the Octagon and fell down on his face, cut his eye and busted his eye open, then was arguing with the police that he needed to get into the Octagon and be with her, because that’s his teammate.
“[The police] dragged him out, got him outside and calmed him down in the back, and I went back and talked to him for a minute, and we’re all good.”
Chiesa and Pena are training partners at the Spokane, Wash.-based camp Sikjitsu. Chiesa, who serves as a guest analyst for the UFC on occasion, is coming off a decision loss to Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 198 on Nov. 20.