There is a new UFC strawweight champion and her name is Mackenzie Dern.
In the UFC 321 co-main event Saturday, Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) defeated Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to claim ownership to the vacant 115-pound title. The bout took place at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
The fight was closely-contested for the entirety of 25 minutes with some razor-thin rounds. Jandiroba (22-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) was unafraid to test her skills and venture into the guard of the skilled Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner.
Dern meanwhile worked well off her back, always active and throwing punches. Jandiroba found success with ground-and-pound. The later rounds were particularly close.
When the fight concluded each fighter was swollen, lifted up by their corners in a potential last-ditch effort to improve optics and sway any judge that’s pen may have been hovering uncertain above their scorecard.
Ultimately, it was Dern who swept the scorecards, thus marking a happy climax in a long-spotlighted career since she transitioned to MMA.
Dern made her UFC debut in 2018 and experienced a variety of ups and downs. After a 1-3 stretch, Dern won back-to-back fights to earn her first crack at UFC gold with Zhang Weili vacating after moving to flyweight.
Jandiroba comes ip short in her first UFC title fight. A blue-collar, five-fight winning streak is snapped.
