Mackenzie Dern hasn’t celebrated her UFC title win yet.
After 16 fights and eight years of competing in the Octagon, Dern finally became an MMA world champion at UFC 321, scoring a unanimous decision win over Virna Jandiroba to claim the vacant women’s strawweight crown.
Since then, Dern has focused on healing her injuries and spending time with her daughter, but the BJJ sensation plans to take some time to properly celebrate her big win.
“I’m super happy,” Dern said Helen Yee. “I’m still on cloud nine. The black eye disappeared within five days, so that was good. I was already busy with commercials and stuff. To be honest, I was kind of recovering for the first week and then back to work, so technically I didn’t celebrate it the way I wanted to.
“Of course it’s great to just be with Moa and watch the belt, but life hasn’t stopped since. I’m going to Brazil on Monday and I think that’s when I’ll start my little party – not too long, but just a little bit.”
While Dern has yet to take a victory lap, contenders are already lining up for a shot at the newly crowned strawweight queen. Chief among them is Zhang Weili, who vacated the title earlier this year to move up the ranks and challenge flyweight world titlist Valentina Shevchenko.
Zhang came up short against ‘Bullet’ at UFC 322, leading many to speculate that ‘Magnum’ would move back down to strawweight and attempt to become the division’s first-ever three-time champion.
Then there’s Tatiana Suarez, who is desperate for another shot at the 115-pound title after a dominant performance against Amanda Lemos in September.
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