Mackenzie Dern said she had fulfilled her destiny of becoming a UFC champion – and achieving it in Abu Dhabi made it all the more sweeter.
Dern faced fellow Brazilian Virna Jandiroba in the co-main event at UFC 321 at Etihad Arena for the strawweight title, which had been vacated by Zhang Weilei.
A close fight saw both fighters put it all the line, with both leaving the octagon battered and bruised. For Dern, the scars will heal, but victory will live long in the memory.
“It’s like a dream come true,” said Dern, who was taken the full five rounds by Jandiroba before being awarded the bout on all three judges’ scorecards.
Neither fighter was afraid to stand and trade. No quarter asked for or given. Twenty-five minutes of calf kicks and punches, it appeared that the only differential was the number of successful takedowns Jandiroba landed.
Dern said she wasn’t overly confident as she waited for the official announcement, but felt like the stars had aligned for her.
“I was in the middle of the fight thinking it was close, she was getting takedowns, but I never felt in danger, never felt like she could finish the fight” Dern said.
“But I just thought I don’t want to lose the fight by getting outpointed. I was trying to touch her, trying to get a knockout. I just felt everything was aligned for me to win, but I had to do my part, destiny wasn’t going to do it all for me.”
She added: “I know I have a huge target on my back now [as champion]. But every time I reach a new goal, I just keep setting new ones.”
Dern was joined in the octagon by her father and daughter, Moa, in an emotional moment for the family.
“My daughter thinks I’m a super hero,” Dern said. “She tells kids around the pool ‘Do you know my mum is a UFC fighter?' She thinks it’s really cool.”
Umar Nurmagomedov got back to winning ways with a dominant display of wrestling and grappling to take a unanimous decision over Mario Bautista.
The pre-fight talk was focused on who was the better striker. The contest never developed enough to answer that question as Nurmagomedov’s relentless wrestling and ground-and-pound the highlight.
The victory and the manner of it puts Nurmagomedov firmly back in the title conversation, with UFC bantamweight Merab Dvilashvili, who inflicted the only defeat in the Russian’s 20-fight career in January, set to face Petr Yan in early December.
“I’d be happy to fight him again. Whether it’s before Ramadan [next year] or after,” said Nurmagomedov. “If not, I’m happy to fight anyone.”
The main event turned into a damp squib after heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall suffered an unintentional eye poke from Ciryl Gane in the first round, with the result a no-contest.
Before that, Alexander Volkov had elevated himself to challenge the winner of that fight by beating Jailton Almeida.
Though Brazilian Almeida took his bigger Russian opponent down in every round, it was Volkov who inflicted most of the damage with strikes from the ground.
One of the most popular winners on the night was Azamat Murzakanov. He made short work of extending his perfect record to 16 wins, and it helped that Aleksandar Rakic walked straight on to a short right hand by the Russian three minutes into the first round.
It was a statement win and Murzakanov’s first victory over a top-10-ranked fighter. He said in his post-fight interview that he believes he should now come into the conversation to challenge the division's champion, Alex Perreira.
