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ABU DHABI – Mackenzie Dern can relate to Charles Oliveira’s delayed road to UFC gold.
Dern (15-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) faces Virna Jandiroba (22-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) for the vacant strawweight title in Saturday’s UFC 321 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, FX/Disney+/ESPN+) co-main event at Etihad Arena on Yas Island.
Dern, a jiu-jitsu world champion, entered the UFC in 2018 with plenty of hype and potential. She’s gone through several ebbs and flows throughout her career, which put a halt to her momentum, and she looks at former lightweight champ Oliveira as inspiration.
“If I cannot go through broken noses and the losses, of course lots of times you think, ‘Man, maybe I shouldn’t do this. I should go back to jiu-jitsu,'” Dern told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I was like winning everything. I humbled myself to start something new and become a white belt and just like learn and go through, especially on a bigger platform with all these critics. The UFC fans, they love you and hate you, then they love you again. It’s a rollercoaster ride. So, I can’t say I wish I didn’t have an undefeated career like Ronda Rousey. That would be amazing, but I’m proud of my journey, and I think that’s what’s going to help me be a great champion, is the adversity I went through.
“I think everyone has different styles, so I see myself similar to Charles ‘Do Bronx,’ who everyone saw that he had so much potential. He was up and down, and he’s been at it for a while, and he has all these submissions, but when they’re a champion, they have a lot of light in them. They don’t just retire after, so I think I’ll be more prepared for what comes at me, winning this title, whoever comes next, what are the next obstacles because of everything I went through. Maybe Tatiana Suarez, who was undefeated and when she did fight for the belt, it was a big difference in the levels and everything like that. I’m really proud to potentially become a champion who can do a little bit of everything. That was my goal.”
Dern reflects on first fight vs. Jandiroba
Dern holds a unanimous decision win over Jandiroba at UFC 256 in December 2020. She reflected on their first meeting and how it will be relevant to the rematch.
“I didn’t watch it that much, but when we did schedule the fight, I think I watched it like two weeks ago,” Dern said. “I was just like, ‘Man, look how I was throwing, look how crazy we were going.’ I think we showed a lot of heart, and I think I was No. 13 and she was maybe like 12.
“We were in the rankings, but in the end part of the rankings. Just to see how we were both trying to do our best, both grapplers exchanging in the striking, so I think we both wanted to see who got better in our striking and just the adversity. That was the first time I got a real injury in MMA, the broken nose.”
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