Mackenzie Dern Says UFC Execs Left Out #1 Crucial Detail About UFC 321 PPV Title Fight

Every fighter, no matter how hard they have grinded for it, gets elated and a tiny bit tinge of surprise when they finally get the call for a title crack. But for UFC women’s Strawweight Mackenzie Dern, it really came as a surprise. Up until it was official, she had no notions about actually fighting for the ‘undisputed’ gold at the UFC 321 PPV title bout.

Talks of a shuffle in the WMMA SW weight class were rampant; after her first defense in a second reign, Valentina Shevchenko told post-fight media scrum that UFC might push for a champ-versus-champ fight. She had former two-time UFC Women’s SW Champ Zhang Weili in mind, as did the brass, with UFC CEO Dana White heavily hinting this as a possibility.

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili in a super fight was all the craze at flyweight, meaning the women’s Strawweight crown was for grabs. That meant elite grappling specialist and Ex-No. 1-ranked IBJJF World fame Dern would go from a perennial longstay to a title contender. As would her opponent and #9 Women’s Pound-for-pound fighter Virna Jandiroba, who many think was long overdue for a shot.

However, per Mackenzie Dern, UFC brass missed out on that very crucial detail in the lead-up, as there were only talks of interim title fights up until now.

That was, like, maybe, I don’t know…three weeks ago, four weeks ago, they were talking about it; they, they weren’t sure if they were gonna do it…And then they’re like, okay, they’re gonna do it. But wait until they announce it — Then, I found out by Instagram that it was going to be for the actual belt, when Dana announced it,..I’m like, wait, is it the real belt or the interim belt? [Tiki, my manager] He’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a real belt…’

Mackenzie Dern said of the UFC’s plans, on “The Ariel Helwani Show” for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat

Shevchenko and Weili were both in their second reigns, with much of the top cogs at FW already being conquered. ‘Bullet’ vs. Alexa Grasso served as a historic and first-ever women’s trilogy set at last year’s annual Noche PPV. However, it held up the flow of the division for far too long, with top contenders wanting their slice of meat like the now-No.1-ranked flyweight, Natália Silva, and Manon Fiorot (who Shevchenko defeated).

For many, Shevchenko vs. Weili in a proper super skills test was the fight to make. The UFC 321: Aspinall vs. Gane PPV lineup at Etihad Arena was set a while ago, and CEO White announced last week that Dern vs. Jandiroba would be for the vacant SW crown, with Weili moving up.

🚨 WEILI VACATES! 🤯

Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba will fight for the vacant UFC Strawweight title as the co-main event at UFC 321 🏆#UFC321 | Oct 25 | TNT Sports and discovery+ pic.twitter.com/a7UsfwsP5g

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) August 29, 2025

"I found out by Instagram that it was going to be for the actual belt when Dana announced it."@MackenzieDern found out she'd be fighting for the strawweight title at the same time as everyone else. pic.twitter.com/ObeDLNR3lZ

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 2, 2025

And the next thing she knows, Dern is fighting for actual undisputed gold; she touts modest back-to-back recent wins over Loopy Godinez and Amanda Ribas. Dern also has a history with Jandiroba, already having defeated her in 2020. Jandiroba is #1 at the weight class with a 5-fight roll over Angela Hill, Marina Rodriguez, Loopy Godinez, Amanda Lemos, and Xiaonan Yan.

Just a month out from it, while it places extra pressure, Dern now knows she’s actually fighting for the undisputed gold, and there’s extra happiness as well. There are only 5 competition strawweight champions in history so far, and Dern now has designs to be the 6th after UFC 321. It’s a resolve she didn’t have that long ago.

Super-pragmatic Mackenzie Dern kept it real about matching up to UFC champ Zhang Weili once

Weili is the pinnacle of the sport and vacated the stakes to her gold after three straight SW title defenses. Dern knew of the super viral rumbling about the UFC women’s 115-pound titleholder wanting a mega fight like Shevchenko.

That made it possible that Mackenzie Dern would soon fight for gold at the top spot, even if back then, UFC 321 wasn’t on the docket. Jandiroba (22-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was already touting herself as better and deserving of Weili’s attention, more so than Tatiana Suarez and others. She even wanted to fight the champ in her own backyard when Weili expressed wishes for a PPV title spot in China after a Shanghai Fight Night event.

Weili is quite popular and a bona fide legend, and after the 92,000 sq ft UFC PI at Shanghai, much of the grunt went to her for representation. So Mackenzie Dern always knew she and someone hot like Jandiroba would be at the top of the listings to take over from the women’s 115-pound champ when the time came. However, she was also realistic about her skills ceiling and her timeline, needing bigger fights until she could face someone like Weili.

I’m like, ‘Let’s go, Weili. You’ve got your belt. Make your decision.’ I’m training, …I’ve been training…I hope she goes up; I would love to fight Weili, but not right now. I’m not there yet. I saw her fight Tatiana … I feel like I could do good with Weili compared to how Tatiana did with her, …[But] then if I were to fight Virna and get the belt, and Weili comes back down, I think that would be enough time to [get ready].

Mackenzie Dern once told MMAJunkie during UFC 317 IFW ‘UFC X 2025 Radio Row‘ Fan Show

Virna Jandiroba has gone 6-1 since her slump to Dern, and the UFC 321 PPV counterpart herself has also made strides in striking, along with her grappling. But at heart, Dern is a pro-grappler through and through, and the championship ceiling in Weili has dealt and outstruck a lot of those.

Suarez herself is of an Olympic-level wrestle-heavy caliber and Weili made a successful defense. 19 finishes (11 KOs / 8 Subs), along with some 11 first-round domination, Weili is a different beast. Only time will tell how Jandiroba or Dern would fare against her.

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