Mackenzie Dern can finally call herself a UFC champion after securing a unanimous decision win over Virna Jandiroba to claim the vacant strawweight title in the UFC 321 co-main event.
It was a back-and-forth fight throughout but Dern’s striking and ability to dish out damage on the ground made the difference with Jandiroba constantly grabbing takedowns but then failing to mount much offense beyond that. Nothing came easy but Dern’s perseverance and grit helped her do enough to get the job done with the judges scoring the fight 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 as she becomes the new UFC strawweight champion.
“It feels amazing,” Dern said with tears in her eyes after winning. “I can’t believe this. It wasn’t the fight I expected, I thought it was going to be a little bit easier. I think I did a lot of damage on the ground. I think it was enough.”
It was a strong striking start for Dern as she cracked Jandiroba with some stiff leg kicks and established a nasty jab that was consistently finding a home. That led to Jandriroba actually securing a takedown but Dern defended well before scramble back to her feet.
Dern continued to counter the grappling attempts from Jandiroba, who just had no answer in the striking exchanges. Again and again, Dern was connecting with thudding shots on the feet as she was throwing with power behind very punch.
That forced Jandiroba to get a little more active as the strawweights continued throwing heavy leather. Jandiroba eventually secured another takedown but this time she inflicted a little more damage with Dern playing defense from her back.
When the fight did stay on the feet, Dern was still showing off better striking overall, which then forced Jandiroba to again turn to her wrestling. Jandiroba secured takedowns almost effortlessly as Dern fell back to her Brazilian jiu-jitsu training to stay active in her guard.
As the fight moved into the fourth round, both strawweights were sporting significant bruising under their eyes as they started trading shots on the feet again. Jandiroba was finally started to connect with some of her combinations and that led to Dern securing her first takedown but she wasn’t able to do much with it as Jandiroba defended on the bottom.
With five minutes remaining, Jandiborba pressed forward and ended up pushing Dern against the cage where she continued to look for takedowns while also throwing some effective elbows. When they separated, Jandiroba tossed a couple more strikes but once again dragged Dern to the canvas, who immediately started launching strikes off her back.
That really was the difference in the fight because while nobody came close to a finish during the five-round saga, Dern was just busier and more offensive minded and Jandiroba just couldn’t find an effective counter.
Hailed as the future of the UFC from the day she arrived in the promotion, Dern showed off evolution in her game and finally ascended the throne now that she’s holding onto the strawweight title with her latest win.
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