Rivalries: Mackenzie Dern

While starts and stops have marked Mackenzie Dern’s time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, she still holds out hope of someday climbing all the way to the top of the women’s strawweight mountain.

The decorated grappler will look to avenge one of her five career defeats when she rematches Amanda Ribas in the UFC Fight Night 249 main event on Jan. 11 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dern, 31, dropped a unanimous decision to the Brazilian in their first meeting five-plus years ago. She now owns a 9-5 record inside the Octagon, having cemented herself as a marquee attraction at 115 pounds.

As Dern approaches her second encounter with Ribas, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape her career to this point:

Virna Jandiroba

Dern nailed down the most significant win of her career when she took a unanimous decision from the former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder in their UFC 256 women’s strawweight showcase on Dec. 12, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards. Dern leaned on winging overhand rights and wild punching flurries throughout much of the first round, absorbed a knee to the face that appeared to leave her with a broken nose in the second and connected on the more consequential blows in the third. There, she delivered a booming right cross that resulted in significant damage around Jandiroba’s right eye, scored with a persistent jab and landed several thudding body kicks. By the time out was over, Dern had outlanded the Brazilian by an 82-63 margin in significant strikes.

Xiaonan Yan

The Team Alpha Male standout outstruck and outfoxed Dern to a majority decision in their five-round UFC Fight Night 211 headliner on Oct. 1, 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 48-47, 48-47 and 47-47. Yan managed to stay on her feet long enough to bank the requisite points across 25 minutes, denying repeated takedown attempts and cutting loose with crisp combinations to the head, all while attacking the body and legs with kicks. Dern made gains in the second and fifth rounds, where she dragged her counterpart to the canvas and went to work with her world-class jiu-jitsu skills. The 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships gold medalist threatened with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2 and an armbar in Round 5. Yan survived both and left her fate to be decided on the scorecards.

Jessica Andrade

The pint-sized Brazilian powerhouse dismissed a defensively challenged Dern with punches in the second round of their UFC 295 women’s strawweight attraction on Nov. 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The end came 3:15 into Round 2. Andrade patiently exposed the considerable holes in the longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s game. She walked through considerable fire on the feet, decked Dern with a right hook near the end of the first round and set the stage for what was to come. Andrade denied a takedown attempt in the middle stanza, forced prolonged standup exchanges and knocked down the Phoenix native three times in a matter of moments. The third and final knockdown, which resulted from a left hook-straight right combination, drew the curtain and sent Dern back to the drawing board in the wake of the first stoppage loss of her career.

Lupita Godinez

Dern rebounded from back-to-back losses and kept her spot in line at 115 pounds with a unanimous decision over the former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion in their three-round UFC on ABC 7 women’s strawweight feature on Aug. 3, 2024 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28. Godinez too often relied on throwing single strikes, mostly jabs and left hooks. Dern answered with basic one-twos, sporadic leg kicks and occasional punching combinations. The Jason Parillo protégé executed takedowns in the first and third rounds, and while she failed to consolidate them with control or damage, they allowed her to check off another box in a closely contested confrontation.