Mackenzie Dern left it all in the octagon at UFC 321, but she still wasn’t sure if it would be enough.
After 25 minutes of back-and-forth action with Virna Jandiroba, Dern emerged victorious via a unanimous decision and was announced as the new UFC strawweight champion, claiming the title vacated by Zhang Weili. One judge had it 49-46 in Dern’s favor, with the other two scoring it much closer at 48-47.
Dern is more than pleased with her performance, but recognized she missed out on putting an exclamation point on the win.
“No,” Dern said at the evening’s post-fight press conference when asked if she was certain she’d won the fight. “Not that I wasn’t confident, I felt like I did everything I could do with the fight but it’s the judges. I felt like I could win, I felt like the fight could be mine, but I wanted to get a knockout and I wanted to be a champion with a submission or a knockout so no one could say anything.
“With MMA and the critics and the fans, it’s always going to be like that. If you leave it for the judges’ decision, it could go either way, you never know.”
Dern and Jandiroba are regarded as two of the best grapplers in all of MMA. When Dern transitioned to the business in 2016, she did so with a laundry list of accomplishments in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, including gold medals at the world-renowned ADCC and IBJJF competitions.
However, much like in their first fight in December 2020 (which Dern also won), the majority of Saturday’s co-main event was comprised of a striking duel. Jandiroba was the more aggressive wrestler and put Dern on her back several times, but when the judges appraised the damage done on the feet, it was Dern who came out ahead.
“I feel a little sore, but I feel amazing. I think we let it all out there, we really gave all our best to try and get the fight,” Dern said. “But yeah, it’s like a dream come true, but I don’t know, every time I reach a goal, I always make a new one. So, I’m already thinking about getting back in the gym, getting better, and I know I have a huge target on my back now, so I want to make sure I’m ready for what’s coming next.”
One name aiming for that target could be Tatiana Suarez. This past June, Suarez had her chance to become champion when she faced Zhang Weili at UFC 312, but lost a lopsided decision. Suarez rebounded with a win over Amanda Lemos in September and with Zhang out of the picture—the Chinese star vacated her title to challenge flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 on Nov. 15—another championship opportunity could be set up for Suarez sooner than expected.
Dern is leaving it in the hands of the matchmakers to find her first challenger.
“I don’t know how much say I have in being a champion now, you know what I mean?” Dern said. “I don’t know much my word and my decisions get into play, but I’m here to defend it, so whoever gets sent to me, I’ll be ready for it. I don’t know, Weili, but I would definitely like to just fight Tatiana. I think maybe she gets one more fight in, but I want to have a couple more fights with some grapplers.”
