A new strawweight champion will be crowned on Saturday night.
In the penultimate bout of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, Brazilian contenders No. 1 Virna Jandiroba and No. 5 Mackenzie Dern will run it back for the vacant 115-pound title. The pair first met in 2020, with Dern taking a unanimous decision win. Jandiroba enters the Octagon riding a five-fight winning streak, while Dern has bounced back from consecutive losses with two straight victories.
They’ll be fighting for the belt relinquished by Zhang Weili, who’s set to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight strap at UFC 322 in November.
Dern enters as a -148 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Jandiroba is priced as a +124 underdog. The total is set at 4.5 rounds. Here’s my favorite bet for Saturday night’s strawweight title clash.
Mackenzie Dern to win by submission or decision (-125)
Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba first met in December 2020 at UFC 256, where they neutralized each other’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise and engaged in an exciting kickboxing scrap. The striking matchup favored Dern, who landed a thudding right hand in the third round to secure a unanimous decision victory.
A lot has changed since then, with the fighters taking strikingly different paths. Dern (15-5, 8 SUB) has struggled to find consistency in her UFC career, batting .500 in her last eight fights. However, she has strung together consecutive wins for the first time since 2021, most recently securing a third-round submission over Amanda Ribas in January.
Jandiroba (22-3, 14 SUB, 1 KO) has enjoyed a much steadier run of victories, riding a five-fight winning streak into Saturday night’s co-main event. The only thing that stalled her momentum was her sporadic activity; she last earned a unanimous decision win over Yan Xiaonan in April, marking her first fight since July 2024.
Jandiroba has vastly improved her takedown game since her first encounter with Dern, a skill she can utilize against an opponent who doesn’t put much effort into defending takedowns, given her BJJ expertise. However, that ground game was nullified in their previous matchup — and if the fight stays on the feet, Dern still holds the clear advantage. Her strong right hand in December 2020 punctuated a masterful kickboxing display, and she’s continued to sharpen her striking abilities in the years since.
Considering their ages — Dern at 32 and Jandiroba at 37 — expect Dern to be the quicker and more aggressive fighter. While she may not record her first career knockout, Dern could control the pace in a commanding effort that ends with the words: “and new.”
