Mackenzie Dern is sitting nicely in the strawweight hierarchy as the UFC’s number six-ranked contender, but Dern has her eyes firmly set on what the reigning champion is doing and a possible sequel clash with the current number one contender.
Mackenzie Dern Wants Zhang Weili
The surging contender spoke about what she wants next with MMA Junkie as part of UFC X Radio Row as Dern looks to build off of her submission win over Amanda Ribas in January. Referencing that Q1 of 2025 fight in the context of how ready she is to return as well as who she would like to be matched up with, Mackenzie Dern said,
“I’m ready to fight—I’ve been waiting since January! My last fight was in January, and I’m just waiting now to get a fight, basically because we’re depending on if Zhang Weili is going to decide what she’s going to do. So I’m like, ‘Let’s go!’ You got your belt, you’re healthy, you’re ready to go, yeah? I’m wanting, I’m training, I’m trying to get ready, but I want to know what to train for. But yeah—I’m ready to fight, and I hope she goes up!”
“Honestly, on a personal level, I would love if she went up and vacated. I would like to fight Virna Jandiroba. I beat her about five years ago, right? But she’s deserving. If she stays at strawweight, she’s next in line to fight for the belt. For me, I think me and her would be the fight for the belt. We’re both grapplers. Since Joanna was such a striker and so dominant, I think it would be really refreshing to have some grapplers as champions—it would mix up the division!”
Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba: a flashback
The last fight Mackenzie Dern had saw her avenge the first loss of her pro MMA career to Ribas, with the latter previously beating the former via unanimous decision in October 2019. If a Virna Jandiroba rematch were to take place, it would represent an opponent Dern has previously one upped as she referenced in her recent MMA Junkie interview.
Dern vs. Jandiroba transpired on December 12th, 2020, at UFC 256, with the former defeating the latter by way of a unanimous decision. That victory extended Dern’s streak at the time to three wins straight following the aforementioned initial blemish on her record against Amanda Ribas.
