Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Mackenzie Dern says UFC somehow left out crucial detail about her UFC 321 title fight

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow
By Christopher De Santiago | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 7:06 PM ET

Mackenzie Dern was left in the dark prior to the biggest fight of her UFC career.

In the co-main event of UFC 321, grappling specialist Mackenzie Dern will go from perennial contender to title challenger when she takes on Virna Jandiroba on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi.

UFC CEO Dana White announced last week that Dern vs. Jandiroba would be for the vacant strawweight title, left behind by Zhang Weili, as she attempts to become a two-division champion against Valentina Shevchenko on the next pay-per-view after at UFC 322.

Days following the official announcement, Dern reveals she was as surprised as the fans.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Mackenzie Dern says UFC didn’t mention undisputed title before fight announcement

Dern had no idea the undisputed title would be on the line at UFC 321.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dern says one of the last things she heard from the UFC was the possibility of an interim title.

Next thing she knows, Dern is fighting for the actual world title.

“That was, like, maybe, I don’t know, three weeks ago, four weeks ago, they were talking about it,” Dern said of an interim title.

“But they weren’t sure if they were gonna do it,” Dern said of the UFC’s plans.

“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,” Dern revealed.

"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

“So I texted [my manager] Tiki, I’m like, wait, is it the real belt or the interim belt? He’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a real belt…’

“So, yeah, that was just like very recent, the change. Of course, we were happy with the interim belt. That’s still a belt and it would be like the next step to getting the [undisputed] belt.

“But the fact that it’s for the real belt definitely puts extra happiness and gratefulness on it,” Dern said a month out from her fight at UFC 321.

Dern is coming off back-to-back wins over Lupita Godinez and Amanda Ribas. She has a past win over Jandiroba from 2020.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mackenzie Dern (@mackenziedern)

There are only five strawweight champions in UFC history

Dern will look to become the sixth UFC women’s strawweight champion.

The UFC’s lightest weight class has produced some all-time greats in UFC Hall of Famer Joanna Jedrejczyk , who successfully defended her title five times, and now former champ Zhang Weili, who leaves the division with three-straight title defenses.

Other strawweight champions include Carla Esparza, Rose Namajunas, and Jessica Andrade.

Esparza and Namajunas fought for the inaugural title in the finale of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 20’ in 2014, with Esparza winning the belt by third-round submission.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: