Mackenzie Dern set to fight Virna Jandiroba for UFC Championship belt at UFC 321

Mackenzie Dern might be one of the best female jiu jitsu fighters to ever compete in the UFC.  The daughter of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend Megaton Dias, Mackenzie Dern will look to score another win the Virna Jandiroba in a rematch October 25th, 2025 when she challenges for the Ultimate Fighting Championships UFC straw weight belt at 115lbs. The fight which will take place in Abu Dhabi will be for a new vacated championships as previous champion Zhang Weili has moved up to challenge flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Taking place inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi the fight will be 5 rounds of 5 minutes as Dern will look to highlight her grappling skills in the rematch.  Jandiroba who is currently on a 5 fight winning streak is a former Invicta FC strawweight champion.  Many people consider Invicta FC to be the premier WMMA organization with the UFC needing many of their fighters when they decided to open up the women’s MMA division.

Mackenzie Dern who won the first fight between Virna Jandiroba has stated that she believes she is the more ahtletic fighter and has only  grown in maturity since their last fight.  Mackenzie Dern won the previous fight back in 2020 when she was still undefeated with the fight being her first decision.  Losses to Marina Rodriguez, Xiaonan Yan, Jessica Andrade, and Amanda Lemos have Dern coming into the fight with 4-4 in her last 8 fights while Virna has won 5 straight fights.

Both Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba have been great representation of WMMA and the skill of female fighters in mixed martial arts, it is exciting to see them get the opportunity to fight for the UFC championships belt.