Athletes
Mackenzie Dern | Full Circle
Strawweight Title Challenger Talks Returning To Abu Dhabi, Representing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu In The UFC
There are a lot of elements coming together to give Mackenzie Dern a great deal of confidence and excitement heading into her clash with Virna Jandiroba for the vacant strawweight title this weekend at UFC 321.
For starters, the multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion has fond memories of competing in the host city, as one of her most notable career victories on the mats came in Abu Dhabi.
RELATED: Inside The Jandiroba vs Dern Rematch
“Fighting in Abu Dhabi is so amazing for me because now, ten years later, I'll be fighting October 25th, 2025, for the belt in the UFC,” began Dern, explaining her excitement about competing at Etihad Arena on Saturday. “Ten years ago, I won my belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu at the Abu Dhabi World Pro against Gabi Garcia on April 25th, 2015.
“It means a lot to me to be in the same country, in Abu Dhabi, so I really feel like I have lots of good energy going into this fight.”
Mackenzie Dern | Submission Showcase
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Mackenzie Dern | Submission Showcase
/
While not everyone finds comfort and satisfaction in competing in familiar surroundings or returning to places where they’ve thrived before, every athlete is different, and anything that can put a competitor in a good headspace is welcomed. But it’s not just returning to the site of her win over Garcia that gives Dern a good feeling as she readies to compete in the first title fight of her MMA career.
When she opted to transition from Brazilian jiu jitsu to her current combat sport of choice, the now 32-year-old standout was simply dipping her toe in the waters, curious to see if she would enjoy the sport, and focused on representing jiu jitsu. A decade later, she’s developed as a fighter, navigated the ebb and flow of a career forged at the sport’s highest level, and finds herself on the precipice of adding another title to her resume.
Order UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane
“When I made the transition to MMA 10 years ago, I was doing it just to see if I would like it,” said Dern. “I really wanted to see if I did like it, how I can represent jiu jitsu on a bigger platform than just our community, and I thought the best way to give back to jiu jitsu was to be able to represent jiu jitsu in MMA, (similar to how) Royce Gracie won the very first UFC, you know?
“That was kind of my intention, and as the years started going, I went through pregnancy, I had my daughter, all of while being in the UFC, so I really grew inside the organization, with wins and losses and battles and broken noses.”
There is even some symmetry in who she is facing this weekend as well, as she and Jandriroba faced off early in their UFC careers and have taken divergent paths to this weekend’s championship fixture, with the unheralded Brazilian entering Saturday’s contest stationed higher in the rankings and having experienced greater success than her more acclaimed adversary.
Plus, Dern kicked off her 2025 campaign by competing in her first rematch, running it back with Amanda Ribas in January, giving her a little more sense of what to expect from Jandiroba this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
WATCH UFC 321 COUNTDOWN: Aspinall vs Gane | Jandiroba vs Dern 2 | Full Episode
“I think everything just kind of came together now with (Zhang) Weili going up a division,” she said in regard to the timing of this rematch and championship opportunity, referencing the two-time champion’s decision to vacate the title in order to move up to flyweight and face Valentina Shevchenko for her belt next month at Madison Square Garden. “After I beat (Jandiroba), I had all these battles I thought I lost, and, you know, Virna went and beat all the girls that beat me, and now she's fighting for the belt and I'm the number one contender for her.
“Having a rematch is exciting. I just had a rematch against Amanda Ribas. The first fight was a loss, so the result was better, and it's a little bit different because I was trying to get that revenge. Now having the rematch, me being on the winning side of it, it's a little bit different because I think I have a little bit more pressure since I won the first time.
“I know that Virna’s going to come with everything, especially because now it's for the belt,” continued Dern, who earned a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 across the board when the two first met at UFC 256 in December 2020. “She's going to come with a lot of correcting her mistakes, and she's gotten so much better in these five years.
“I know I've gotten a lot better, too, but I think she ended up (beating) all the girls that beat me. She ended up fighting really good, and I think I have a lot more to worry about this time than the first time.”
RELATED: Dern Fight Camp Interview
When the two first clashed, it was Dern’s sixth appearance in the UFC and fourth since returning from having her daughter, while Jandiroba was stepping into the Octagon for just the fourth time. It was a competitive bout; the two women entering the third round deadlocked at one round apiece before Dern got the better of things in the final stanza to secure the victory.
Since then, however, the two have moved in different directions.
Though Jandiroba hasn’t beaten all of the women that have bested Dern since that initial encounter, she has turned away three of the four, earning wins over Marina Rodriguez, Amanda Lemos, and Yan Xiaonan as part of her 6-1 run since losing to her UFC 321 counterpart. Conversely, Dern is just 5-4, never winning or losing more than two straight since then, while faltering against the trio Jandiroba has since bested and former champ Jessica Andrade as well.
Full Fight | Mackenzie Dern vs Amanda Ribas 2
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Full Fight | Mackenzie Dern vs Amanda Ribas 2
/
But she enters Saturday’s contest off a stellar performance against Ribas in January that built on her hard-fought win over Loopy Godinez the previous summer in Abu Dhabi (more good vibes) and bolstered by the amount of experience she has competing in five-round fights.
“I don't think Virna has fought many five-round fights, especially since we fought each other,” said Dern, correct in her assertion, as the last time Jandiroba went five rounds was her March 2018 Invicta FC title win over current UFC strawweight Mizuki. “But the last five years, I've had four or five five-rounders that I went all five rounds, and it's it changes the game a little bit (in terms of) how you fight the fight.
UFC 321 Full Fight Card Preview
“You have some rounds that you can kind of feel out and see how your opponent is fighting, you know, find your timing,” continued Dern, who has gone 2-2 in UFC main events. “(In a three-round fight) you don't want to give any round up. It goes by so fast, so you don't want to fall behind.
“But five rounds — of course we're always looking to win every round, but five rounds, we have some space to change; you have time. You have 25 minutes to figure out your opponent and really see (how things are playing out). “We've just been training so hard to make sure that we don't run out of cardio, keep the pace the whole time, but also to have a champion mindset and be able to take time and play smart.”
Though born in the United States, Dern, whose father is renowned Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor Wellington “Megaton” Dias, has split time between the U.S. and Brazil throughout her life, is fluent in both English and Portuguese, and represents Brazil when she competes inside the Octagon.
As such, it means that regardless of how things shake out this weekend, the first nation of the sport will claim another champion on Saturday, and Dern is extremely proud to be a part of the ever-expanding Brazilian legacy in the sport and in the UFC.
“In the strawweight division, I think in the Top 15, maybe eight are Brazilians,” stated Dern, hitting the mark with her numerical guess. “We have a lot of girls, a lot of Brazilians in general, and a lot, a lot of Brazilians coming in, so you can really tell that the fighting spirit is strong for Brazil. I feel like Brazil is very happy to get another champion, independent of who will be on October 25th, but we know that one of them will be Brazilian.
“I got into martial arts because of my dad, who's Brazilian; that's how I started Brazilian jiu jitsu, and that's what got me to the UFC was because of my results in jiu jitsu,” she added. “I'm really happy to see just this wave of Brazilian, the (next) generation of Brazilians coming in and staying strong in the UFC, and so the best way I can represent Brazil is to be able to get the belt.”
UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane took place live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!