Mackenzie Dern is the UFC’s undisputed strawweight champion, but she knows there’s work to be done to make it an airtight case.
Namely, there’s former champion Zhang Weili presumably waiting in the wings after making a failed bid to jump up to flyweight and dethrone Valentine Shevchenko. The smaller Zhang was handily defeated and hasn’t announced her next move yet, though a return to 115 pounds and a duel with Dern makes sense on paper.
Zhang vacated her strawweight title in October, leaving it up for grabs in a vacant championship bout between Dern and Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 that Dern won by unanimous decision. Dern’s first title defense will go a long way towards boosting her credibility and there’s no opponent who would do that more than Zhang.
“There are a few girls I think that maybe could come out depending on their fights, that have fights scheduled, but I think Weili’s a really, really strong competitor,” Dern told MMA Junkie.
“I don’t feel like I need to, but I feel like the fans really want to see it,” she added. “If [Zhang] wanted to retire today, she could, because she’s accomplished so much, so I don’t put that pressure on myself that I need to fight her. But definitely it will be very fulfilling to be able to be able to beat her and just kind of solidify to anyone who had a doubt that I’m the real champion and I didn’t just get it easy.”
Alongside Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas, Zhang is widely regarded as the best fighter ever to compete at 115 pounds. She has successfully defended the title four times across her two reigns and fended off numerous top names including Jedrzejczyk, Carla Esparza, Jessica Andrade, and Tatiana Suarez, among others. Zhang is as high as a -500 favorite in future odds according to Fight Odds.
For now, Dern is basking in the limelight, which hasn’t made focusing on fight preparation any easier.
“My life’s changed completely,” Dern said. “I’ve been doing so much stuff. It’s really true that thing where they say it’s hard to keep training when you’re doing so many different things, so the goal right now is just try and get my training on point, make sure I can defend my belt as long as possible because pretty soon we have a fight coming up.”
Though Dern’s 16-5 record doesn’t scream dominant champion, the 32-year-old kept herself in the title picture with constant activity, typically against ranked opponents. She has fought at least twice a year since 2019.
If she keeps up her usual schedule, expect to see Dern face Zhang in the first half of 2026.
“We’ve been talking a little bit,” Dern said. “I’m thinking probably around May, June, around then.”
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Zhang has just got to come back for that title. It sounds a little strange because the whole reason she left the division was because she didn’t have much left to accomplish at 115 pounds, but there has to be a part of her that wants to set the record straight as to who is truly the best fighter in the division.
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