Mackenzie Dern (15-5) will be fighting for UFC gold for the first time in her professional mixed martial arts career on Saturday. She will be sharing the Octagon with Virna Jandiroba (22-3) in the UFC 321 co-main event. The bout will be contested for the vacant UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. Speaking to Newsweek Sports, Dern explained why holding UFC gold would mean more than an athletic achievement.
“I think the most is just having faith in God and not giving up,” Dern said. “Taking the ups and downs is just part of self-maturity. I think winning that belt—sure, it would be like being a champion of the UFC, but I think it would be a champion in life. It would be more meaningful as, “Hey, I won in life.’ My daughter will be here. Hopefully, I’ll be able to raise her hand with me and get that belt together.”
More News: Exclusive: UFC 321’s Ciryl Gane Has Stern Warning for Tom Aspinall’s Camp
Getting The Call
Dern will get her crack at UFC gold after the previous strawweight champion, Zhang Weili, relinquished the title. Weili will challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship at UFC 322. Dern said that the opportunity took her by surprise.
“So surreal,” Dern said. “It’s surreal even now. I’m like, ‘Is this really happening?’ Not that I don’t think I deserve to be here. I do, but it’s just the way everything lined up, being here in Abu Dhabi, that I have such amazing moments here, even from my jiu-jitsu career, and then Weili went up, and I wasn’t even the No. 1 contender. Virna was. How a win five years ago over Virna kind of just set me up for this, and of course, out of the top five girls, I’m coming off of two consecutive wins.”
Dern feels that both she and Jandiroba have been working to get to this moment for quite a while.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Dern said. “I think even for Virna, she’s been at this for a long time. For myself too, just with pregnancy and injuries and just life happening and still learning on the spot and trying to be the best well-rounded fighter I can be.”
Unexpected Opportunity
Despite Weili’s constant push to fight Shevchenko, Dern wasn’t expecting the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship to be vacated.
“No, I thought it was the interim belt for me,” Dern admitted. “Even though I know Ilia [Topuria] gave up the belt, we were seeing kind of more UFC fighters giving up the belt and going up to a division, but in my mind, it was she was going to go up, fight Valentina, and go back down.”
With Zhang now out of the 115-pound division, even if it might be brief, Dern believes it’s a breath of fresh air for emerging strawweight contenders.
“She was just so dominant in the division,” Dern said. “I think it’s really just kind of refreshing, and there’s a lot of movement that will happen in the division. If she does come back down right away, I think the girls and myself will be more excited and rejuvenated to fight her.”
Size Disadvantage
Some experts and fans feel Weili might be too small to give “Bullet” problems in their super fight. Dern discussed whether or not Shevchenko’s size advantage will play a factor in the fight.
“I do agree,” Dern said. “I think Valentina’s size is going to make a difference, but we see Alexa Grasso was a strawweight and went up, and she did really good against Valentina. I feel like Weili’s very similar, as in clean technique and a lot of movement, and she has these good scrambles, and her grappling is getting so much better.”
Dern still won’t make a prediction for the highly anticipated New York City clash.
“I can’t decide on who I think will win that one,” Dern said.
Different Fight With Jandiroba
Dern and Jandiroba first met inside the Octagon back in late 2020. Dern scored the unanimous decision victory. Going into the rematch, Dern is expecting a different fight.
“I think there’s going to be more grappling for sure,” Dern said. “We both went three rounds striking the first time, and it was a war. I think we’re both prepared for war since we were prepared for war back then. Now, we’re definitely both prepared, especially because it’s worth a belt.”
Full Circle Moment
Fighting for gold in Abu Dhabi is actually something that Dern has done before, capturing a title in jiu-jitsu. Dern relived that moment and feels everything has come full circle for UFC 321.
“One hundred percent,” Dern said. “Jiu-jitsu, we don’t even have belts, but my world title that I won here in Abu Dhabi was the only competition that we had that they gave us a belt. It was on April 25th, and I’m fighting October 25th, so even the day is the same number. I couldn’t pick a better place to be fighting for a world title.”
Dern will be proud to represent jiu-jitsu in her rematch with Jandiroba.
“It’s cool to see two grapplers fighting for the belt and just to kind of stay true to how and why MMA started,” Dern said. “With UFC 1 and Royce Gracie, and it just shows how jiu-jitsu is an important part of MMA, and I think everyone needs to have some knowledge. You can’t be an MMA fighter and not do jiu-jitsu at all.”
Final Message to Supporters
Throughout her competitive career, Dern has gained support from those who have seen her in jiu-jitsu matches and even fans who watched her develop as an MMA fighter in LFA. She is hoping that she can capture UFC gold on Saturday to share the victory with her supporters.
“My message to them is I hope that they feel that this journey has been part of theirs, that they’re part of this,” Dern said. “I hope winning the belt, they’ll feel like, ‘It’s ours,” and it’s not just mine. It wouldn’t be done without all the support.”
More News:
For more on UFC content, head to Newsweek Sports.