Mackenzie Dern has been working toward a shot at the UFC Strawweight Championship on Saturday night in the UFC 321 co-main event for the past seven-plus years. Since joining the UFC’s active roster from Invicta in early 2018, she’s made the walk to the fabled Octagon 15 times.
During her 15-fight tenure with the UFC, Dern has fought twice with Amanda Ribas, going 1-1 in that series, most recently besting Ribas in the rematch on the first card of the year Jan. 11. Earlier this year, the UFC Strawweight Championship was vacated by Zhang Weili, who elected to try her luck at flyweight for a title fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 next month.
During her 15-fight tenure with the UFC, Dern has fought twice with Amanda Ribas, going 1-1 in that series, most recently besting Ribas in the rematch on the first card of the year Jan. 11. Earlier this year, the UFC Strawweight Championship was vacated by Zhang Weili, who On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the question of who will be the new UFC Strawweight Champion will be answered between No. 1 contender Virna Jandiroba and No. 5 contender Mackenzie Dern. It’ll be a five-round fight at five minutes per round.
November 11, 2023, New York, NY, United States: New york, NY: Mackenzie Dern during her fight in UFC Women s Strawweight bout during the UFC 295 event at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2023 in New York City. New York United States – ZUMAr187 20231111_zsp_r187_035 Copyright: xJustinxRenfroex
Mackenzie Dern Embracing Opportunity in UFC 321 Saturday
Wednesday, Mackenzie Dern met with the assembled press for UFC 321 media day. During her pre-fight press junket, she discussed her feelings about her chance at strawweight gold this coming weekend.
“I was just trying to grow the ranks and learn the whole sport,” Mackenzie Dern began. “That set me up to be fighting for the title now, and it’s really surreal how this happened. I think that the focus was always just to day after day, get better and put myself in uncomfortable situations and to feel that we made it here and that this is a great matchup for us.”
As previously mentioned, Zhang Weil’s vacation of the strawweight championship has yielded to this coming Saturday’s co-main attraction in Abu Dhabi. Much like the contest Mackenzie Dern had against Amanda Ribas to start 2025, this, too is a rematch, something that isn’t lost on her.
“Obviously, it could go any way,” Dern said of Saturday’s rematch, “but it definitely gives you a little bit, like you know it’s possible. We just kept training. My last fight with Amanda was eight months ago. This whole camp, we were training everywhere, but we didn’t train anything specific for Virna.”
Looking Back at Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba I
Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba met inside the fabled Octagon nearly five years ago. As will be the case in the rematch this weekend, this fight took place during a flagship event.
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dern secured a unanimous decision victory over Jandiroba after 15 minutes of action. This time around, the stakes are higher and, by extension, the facts surrounding this fight are coldly simple:
Chapter two of this story will be more dramatic given that there’s a championship at stake and the victor of this fight becomes only the sixth different woman to hold the UFC Strawweight Champion since the 115-lb division’s title was inaugurated almost 11 years ago.
Final Thoughts
Mackenzie Dern’s journey in MMA has led her to a shot at the UFC Strawweight Championship on Saturday night during UFC 321. This is a renewal of a rivalry close to five years in the making.
With this in mind, there’s one simple question left to ask as we bid you farewell on this day:
Will Mackenzie Dern go 2-for-2 in under five years against Jandiroba or will the latter even up the score? Tune in and find out.