Abu Dhabi – A bit painful, but great. That’s how newly crowned strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern felt after UFC 321 on Saturday.
Although she would have wanted a finish, a knockout or a submission, in her first UFC title fight, Dern (16-5) also knows she “left it all out there.” Ultimately, she earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Virna Jandiroba to claim the title vacated by Weili Zhang.
“It’s like a dream come true, but every time I achieve a goal, I always make a new one,” Dern told media including Cageside Press after the fight. “I’m already thinking about getting back in the gym, getting better, and I know I’ll have a huge target on my back now, so I’m ready for what’s to come.”
The question now is: who is next? Names like Zhang, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas have ascended or retired. Tatiana Suarez, despite a loss to Zhang, is a name of Dern’s interest.
“I’m here to defend it, so for anyone sent to me, I’m ready,” she said of her newly won title. ‘So I don’t know [about] Weili, but I would definitely just want to fight Tatiana. Maybe she’ll get another fight, but I want to have a few more fights with some grapplers.
Either way, Mackenzie Dern knows retaining the title won’t be an easy task.
“They say it’s hard to take the title, but it’s even harder to stay on top and defend it. So I’m definitely prepared for all the hard work that has to happen. The hard part starts now, but I’m excited. Whoever is going to come, that will make me evolve as a fighter,” said Dern, who mentioned the process of transitioning from a grappler to a striker. “I have to redo myself every fight so they can never find the right way to beat me.”
Watch the full UFC 321 post-fight press conference with Mackenzie Dern above.
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