Mackenzie Dern is building the momentum that has eluded her. For the first time in four years, Dern has picked up consecutive wins. The decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu star used her grappling as a weapon to hand Amanda Ribas her first submission loss on Saturday at UFC Fight Night.
Dern was not driven by revenge, but rather emphatically avenged her decision loss to Ribas in 2019. Dern capped off a contest at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas by scoring an armbar submission at 4:56 of Round 3.
Both fighters had their moments and each scored takedowns. Ribas' ground-and-pound was more effective, while Dern was successful with sweeps and submission attempts. Dern, an ADCC World Championship gold medalist, threatened Ribas with an armbar in Round 3 to drive him into full mount. From there, Dern practiced her punch before attacking the arm again. Dern blocked the arm, dropped back and tore apart Ribas' defense in a Ronda Rousey-like manner.
Dern (15-5) wasn't confident that a win over Ribas (13-6) would do much for her in the official UFC women's strawweight rankings. Dern is currently ranked 6th and admits that she has struggled against most of the competitors before her. She has a win over No. 3 Virna Jandiroba in 2020 that she could leverage into a title eliminator.
“I just want to get another win in a row,” Dern told UFC commentator Michael Bisping after the fight. “I don't know who that will be. I hope someone gets ahead of me, but I've fought most of them. The only one I haven’t fought is Tatiana.” [Suarez] but she is fighting for the title.
