Mackenzie Dern feels she has come a long way since her first fight against Vilna Jandilova.
Nearly five years ago, Dern earned a unanimous decision victory over Jandilova. She has a chance to get a two-up with the Brazilian fighter in the co-main event of UFC 321 on October 25th at the Etihad Arena. More importantly, the winner will leave Abu Dhabi as the undisputed women’s strawweight world champion.
Despite being known for his world-class grappling, Dern and Jandiroba’s first fight was fought entirely on the feet.
“I watched it recently and it just broke my heart,” Dern said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “We were fighting all the time and I barely knew how to throw a jab at the time. It was my first full camp with Pirro, I was just coming back from pregnancy, and I won that fight with guts and heart.”
“I’m a completely different fighter now, and I know Vilna has also grown a lot. This fight is going to be completely different.”
Dern is 5-5 inside the Octagon since defeating Jandiroba at UFC 256, but enters her first title shot on a two-fight win streak with wins over Loopy Godinez and Amanda Rivas. Before that, she suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of Jessica Andrade and Amanda Lemos.
Jandiroba, on the other hand, has a very impressive 6-1 record since losing to Dern six months ago. She heads to the UAE with wins in her last five fights, including a second-round submission win over Lemos and most recently a decisive unanimous decision win over Yan Xiaona.
Jandiroba is currently trending at +110 at multiple sportsbooks, making him a slight underdog, while Dern is trending as the -130 betting favorite.