Mackenzie Dern not rushing to UFC title shot, aiming to become ‘dominant champion’

Mackenzie Dern isn’t looking to have a title shot handed to her, especially if she’s not properly prepared.

It’s understandable that Dern is hearing title buzz again after a huge win in Saturday’s UFC Vegas 101 main event that saw her submit Amanda Ribas with an armbar in the third round. Not only did Dern avenge a 2019 loss to Ribas, she strung together consecutive wins for the first time since 2021, and she held on to her spot on the strawweight ladder (Dern is currently No. 8 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings).

The strawweight title is set to be defended at UFC 312 on Feb. 8 when champion Zhang Weili fights undefeated challenger Tatiana Suarez, and the winner could need a fresh challenger sooner rather than later. Dern is up for the opportunity, but prefers to take things slow to make sure she’s not just ready to win the belt, but hold on to it.

“I think I’m very hard on myself and I always try to get better,” Dern said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “Even when I have a great performance, I think I did so many things wrong. So I think it’s a lot of play messing in your head, so it can take your journey and maybe makes it a little longer. But I think in the end it really helps you want to be the best fighter possible if you can really look back and have constructive criticism on yourself.

“My idea isn’t to go fight for the belt and then lose it fast. My idea is to get the belt, and I want to be a dominant champion, so I’m not in a rush to get there. I want to have good fights, and I want to make a statement.”

It’s not uncommon for the UFC to have replacement fighters on hand for title fights and given Suarez’s unfortunate history of injuries, the promotion may need one for the UFC 312 co-main event.

Virna Jandiroba was originally expected to fight Suarez this past December, only to withdraw from that bout and end up in a title fight instead. That leaves the door open for Jandiroba to be a backup for Zhang vs. Suarez, or it could be Dern who gets the call.

“I think definitely my name could be thrown in there if something happens,” Dern said. “They’ve called me on short notice before, like with Amanda Lemos, her fight before me was just for the title. So I think definitely I could be thrown in there.

“If we would accept it or not, I don’t know, that’s something me and the team would have to go through. I definitely don’t want to accept something if we’re not ready and just have a bad performance, but I think my name’s definitely close there now.”

The dilemma Dern faces now is that she has already fought several of the fighters ranked above her and she’s unsure if any of them are itching to meet her in a rematch. Her priority is extending her win streak and if that means beating Jandiroba again, she’d consider it.

“None of them specific,” Dern said when asked which opponent she’d prefer to fight again. “I’m just thinking, my next fights are going to be ‘Dern 2,’ I’m going to be in all these rematches. Any of the girls, I think I’m going to train the best I can no matter who comes.

“Maybe Virna again. I know Tatiana came out and they kind of threw out maybe I would step in [to fight Jandiroba], but I don’t think that fight was really good for her at that time, but now that Tatiana’s going for the belt, maybe that’s something that she would want to do. But yeah, nothing specific.”