No. 6 ranked Final Preventing Championship (UFC) Strawweight Mackenzie Dern returns to motion in her fourth predominant occasion this weekend (Sat., Jan. 11, 2025) at UFC Vegas 101 in a rematch in opposition to No. 8 seeded Amanda Ribas, which is ready to go down contained in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The pair of high contenders met again in 2019 at UFC Tampa and Ribas handed Dern her first skilled loss through unanimous determination, derailing Dern’s hype practice.
Right now (Weds., Jan. 8, 2025), Dern revealed that she regrets taking the battle in opposition to Ribas particularly as a result of it was 4 months after giving beginning to her daughter.
“Yeah, [I regret it] a bit bit. I imply, I feel I nonetheless would have losses in my profession, and, , I’m nonetheless blissful to the place I’m at right this moment. I feel that’s what made me be who I’m right this moment,” Dern instructed MMAMania.com at UFC Vegas 101 media day (watch right here). “So, I can’t completely remorse it, however for me, I feel if I might return once more, I’d have waited a bit bit longer…And these days, I perceive with simply two consecutive wins, you be in line for a title. That’s the purpose, to be a champion, and possibly I’d have stored being undefeated, like Tatiana Suarez.
“So, I really feel like my profession took a unique flip with my determination,” Dern added. “I went again and watched the battle and I assumed I did fairly good, for the whole lot that I had gone by means of…However, yeah, I feel I used to be petrified of the ring rust, , at the moment. And I wasn’t even, like, an actual MMA fighter. I didn’t even know what the ring rust was…I stated, ‘No, I don’t need out longer. I used to be already out for one yr mainly and the followers have been saying I’ll by no means come again. And in my final battle, I had simply missed weight. I used to be on a roll and I wished to point out that, simply because I had a child, I’ll be again in and the whole lot like that…So, yeah, positively, want I’d have had the composure to assume, like, no, take it slower. Take a bit bit extra time. , 4 months is quick.”
Whereas Dern rebounded with 4 straight wins after her loss to Ribas, possibly she would have been pushed even faster up the UFC ladder.
However, each girls consider this battle is pivotal for who will battle for the Strawweight title and consider a dominant win will allow them to leapfrog high contender Virna Jandiroba, who’s ready for a title shot.
LIVE! Stream UFC Vegas 101 On ESPN+
STRAWWEIGHT SHOWDOWN! Final Preventing Championship (UFC) heads again to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., Jan. 11, 2025, with an essential 115-pound predominant occasion that includes jiu-jitsu phenom Mackenzie Dern, who seems to avenge her 2019 loss to Brazilian bruiser Amanda Ribas. As well as, longtime welterweight slugger Santiago Ponzinibbio returns to face off in opposition to “Mocambique” mauler Carlston Harris in UFC Vegas 101’s hard-hitting co-headliner.
Don’t miss a single second of face-punching motion!
MMAmania.com will ship LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow protection of all the UFC Vegas 101 battle card RIGHT HERE, beginning with the ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, adopted by the remaining predominant card stability on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.
To take a look at the most recent and best UFC Vegas 101 information and notes be sure you hit up our complete occasion archive right here. For the up to date and finalized “Dern vs. Ribas 2” battle card and ESPN+ lineup click on right here.
