Mackenzie Dern Is Looking to Capture UFC Gold In the Same Place She Won Jiu Jitsu Worlds against Gabi Garcia

UFC star Mackenzie Dern has explained why winning a world title in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321 would be particularly special for her.

For the longest time, Mackenzie Dern has been viewed as a potential world title threat – but she’s never quite been able to take that next step up towards the gold. Now, she has the opportunity to do just that as she prepares to battle Virna Jandiroba for the vacant UFC strawweight championship at UFC 321. As you can imagine, this fight holds a lot of potential both in the contest itself and in the marketing potential for the UFC if Dern can get the win.

While she’s already beaten Jandiroba once before, Mackenzie Dern knows that this is going to be a really tough test. It’s a completely different ball game when you fight for a championship, and that’s especially true on a stage as big as the UFC.

In a recent interview, though, Mackenzie Dern spoke openly about why winning the gold in Abu Dhabi would be a really big moment for her.

Mackenzie Dern’s great Abu Dhabi memories

“Fighting in Abu Dhabi is so amazing for me because now, 10 years later, I’ll be fighting October 25th, 2025, for the belt in the UFC. Ten years ago, I won my Brazilian jiu-jitsu belt at the Abu Dhabi World Pro against Gabi Garcia on April 25th, 2015. It means a lot to me to be in the same country—I really feel like I have lots of good energy going into this fight.”​

Dern knows that there’s a lot of pressure on her shoulders heading into this fight, but in equal measure, she’s done incredibly well just to get to this point. Regardless of how the fight plays out, we’re expecting it to be a pretty fun affair.