UFC 321: Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern set to battle for vacant strawweight title

The UFC is looking for a new champion to take charge of the women’s strawweight division, and has booked a title fight to install a new champ at UFC 321.

The event, which takes place on October 25 in Abu Dhabi, will see Brazilian contenders Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern go head to head for the title, which was vacated with the news that now-former champion Zhang Weili had made the permanent move up to flyweight to challenge Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 in November.

It means the 115-pound belt lies vacant, and Jandiroba and Dern will face off for the strap in the co-main event.

The bout is a rematch of their meeting at UFC 258, where Dern claimed a unanimous decision victory in December 2020 in Las Vegas in a bout that saw Dern nullify Jandiroba’s grappling, while outstriking her on the feet.

Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern — UFC

Jandiroba currently sits at the top spot in the UFC’s official strawweight rankings, with the 37-year-old riding a five-fight win streak that includes victories over Angela Hill, Marina Rodriguez, Loopy Godinez, and former title challengers Amanda Lemos and Yan Xiaonan. “Carcara” has only one knockout win to her name, but the former Invicta FC strawweight champion has 14 career wins by submission.

Those grappling skills are sure to be put to the test when she rematches Dern, who is considered to be one of the best female grapplers to ever set foot in the Octagon.

Following a glittering Brazilian jiu-jitsu career that saw her capture multiple world championships, Dern transitioned to mixed martial arts in 2016 and has steadily rounded out her game as she has progressed up the ranks at 115 pounds. Most recently, she submitted Amanda Ribas via third-round armbar to take her professional record to 15 wins, five losses.

Now ranked fifth at strawweight, Dern will challenge for championship gold when she faces Jandiroba for the vacant strawweight title at UFC 321.

Also added to the UFC 321 fight card is a pivotal clash in the bantamweight division, as Umar Nurmagomedov takes on Mario Bautista.

Umar Nurmagmedov and Mario Bautista — UFC

Nurmagomedov heads into the bout looking return to winning ways after suffering the first defeat of his career to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January. The Russian contender was perfect at 18-0 heading into that fight, and will be keen to regain that momentum with victory over one of the trickiest contenders in the division.

Arizona-based Bautista hasn’t lost since his 2021 TKO loss to Trevin Jones at UFC 259, and heads into UFC 321 on an impressive eight-fight win streak, with the eighth-ranked contender’s most recent two appearances seeing him outpoint former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix.

The pair were originally due to face off in the main event of UFC Vancouver on October 18. But, in a reshuffle, the pair have been pushed back one week, and will feature on the main card in Abu Dhabi.