Mackenzie Dern will headline the UFC 321 co-main occasion on October 25, 2025, on the Etihad Enviornment in Abu Dhabi when she faces Virna Jandiroba for the vacant ladies’s strawweight championship. The title was left open when former champion Zhang Weili moved as much as flyweight to problem Valentina Shevchenko.
In a latest, Dern acknowledged that she wouldn’t be able to face Zhang at this level in her profession however expressed confidence that profitable the belt would change that trajectory.
Mackenzie Dern Targets Zhang Weili Title Combat at UFC White Home Occasion
Dern and Jandiroba first met in December 2020, with Dern incomes a unanimous choice win. Since then, Jandiroba has compiled an eight-fight win streak, demonstrating important enchancment in her floor management and putting defence.
Dern, meanwhile, rebounded from two consecutive losses with submission victories over Lupita Godinez and a choice win in opposition to Angela Hill. Dern’s preparation underneath coach Jason Pillo has emphasised mixing her Brazilian jiu-jitsu basis with extra refined takedown setups, a technique designed to neutralize Jandiroba’s wrestling base.
In her interview with MMA Combating, Dern stated:
“I’m not interested by preventing Weili proper now. I don’t assume I’d be able to combat Weili at this second in my profession. But when I win the belt, after which we combat like on the White Home or one thing in June, I really feel like I’d be far more prepared. Successful the belt offers you confidence and extra time to coach.”
Zhang Weili reigned at strawweight from August 2019 till her choice to chase double-champion standing within the flyweight division. Throughout that interval, she defended her belt in opposition to Yan Xiaonan, Tatiana Suarez and Carla Esparza. Dern’s ambition is to affix the checklist of former champions whose reign included high-profile defences.
The White Home occasion, rumored for June 2026, is being positioned by UFC management as a landmark event that would elevate the profile of each fighters and of girls’s MMA general.
