Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern met for the second time in the co-main event of UFC 321 to crown a new strawweight champion.
The headlining title bout between UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane understandably demanded considerable attention during the lead-up to UFC 321, but combat sports fans were also excited to see whether Jandiroba or Dern would kick off a new era at strawweight following Zhang Weili’s decision to move up in weight and challenge Valentina Shevchenko.
The fight featured several momentum swings over the course of 25 minutes, and once the final bell sounded it was Dern who got her hand raised via unanimous decision and captured UFC gold.
Nearly five years removed from their first meeting that saw Dern get her hand raised by unanimous decision, the 32-year-old was lined as a small favorite when the cage door closed for the rematch with Jandiroba.
READ MORE: UFC 321: Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane free live stream results & highlights
“Carcará” came into the night riding the momentum of five-straight wins that earned her the #1 contender spot at strawweight, while Dern was ranked at #5 following back-to-back victories over Lupita Godinez and Amanda Ribas.
Only one can leave with strawweight gold 😤@VirnaJandiroba vs @MackenzieDern#UFC321 is LIVE now on the @ESPN app!
[ @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/pyoCqmdqn3
— UFC (@ufc) October 25, 2025
The two women traded low kicks to begin the fight before they started strading punches, and both fighters landed some good shots during the opening two minutes before Jandiroba managed to hit the first takedown. The Brazilian didn’t play around on the mat too much before the pair returned to striking, but after taking a couple hard shots Jandiroba decided to bring things to the canvas again.
It was Dern who opened the second frame with a takedown attempt that was stuffed relatively easily, and Jandiroba found considerably more success with her striking before another takedown briefly put Dern on her back. Dern initially managed to reverse a takedown attempt during the latter half of the round, but Jandiroba ended up in top position again and maintained that position until just before the bell.
READ MORE: UFC 321 prelims end with disgusting Knockout of the Year candidate
A big exchange to start the third round opened the chance for Jandiroba to get right back on top in the center of the cage before Dern fought back to her feet. The rest of the third frame followed a similar pattern to the previous two rounds, as Dern largely got the better of things on the feet but struggled to defend takedowns when Jandiroba shot for them.
The fourth round saw Dern finally hit her first takedown with under a minute to go until the bell. Following a hard-fought final five minutes, Dern got the better of Jandiroba for the second time via the judges’ scorecards and claim the UFC’s vacant strawweight title.
THE NEW STRAWWEIGHT QUEEN 🇧🇷🏆@MackenzieDern defeats Virna Jandiroba at #UFC321 by unanimous decision to become the undisputed strawweight champion of the world!
[ B2YB @HSpecialSurgery ] pic.twitter.com/dyPgiXmzki
— UFC (@ufc) October 25, 2025
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