With Zhang Weili having vacated the women’s strawweight title in order to fight for the flyweight title, a new match-up to decide the next 115lb champion has been announced, with Mackenzie Dern set to go up against Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi on October 25th.
The 37-year-old Jandiroba was the obvious choice to fight for the vacated title as she’s currently the division’s No.1 contender, having amassed a five-fight winning streak over the past few years.
jandiroba’s run includes a trio of decision wins over Angela Hill, Marina Rodriguez and Loopy Godinez, followed by a submission stoppage of Amanda Lemos and then most recently another victory on the scorecards against Yan Xiaonan.
With other leading strawweight’s coming off a loss, or in the 4th ranked Amanda Lemos’ case having already lost to Jandiroba last year, it’s the 5th placed Dern who also now has the chance to fight for the vacant belt.
The 32-year-old Dern is coming off back-to-back wins in the past year, having beaten Loopy Godinez by unanimous decision and then submitted Amanda Ribas.
Jandiroba vs. Dern is expected to be the co-main event for UFC 321, which will be headlined by a heavyweight title showdown between newly installed champion Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane.
