UFC strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern's next fight will no longer be a year-ending clash in Tampa — it'll be a year-opening assignment in Las Vegas.
Dern (14-5) has had an inconsistent run in recent years and entered her most recent outing in Abu Dhabi this past August off the back of consecutive losses at the hands of Jéssica Andrade and Amanda Lemos.
But the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist successfully avoided the first three-fight losing skid of her career, outpointing Loopy Godinez to return to winning ways. And Dern initially looked set for the chance to end the year on a streak.
She was booked for the opportunity to avenge her first professional defeat in a rematch with Amanda Ribas (13-5) at the UFC Fight Night in Tampa next weekend. The Brazilian is currently ranked two places below Dern at #8.
Per MMA Mania's Alex Behunin, however, that second dance has been pushed back and will instead now top the lineup for UFC Vegas 101 at the Apex on Jan. 11.
For Ribas, the rematch will mark her return to 115 pounds after suffering defeat to Rose Namajunas last time out at flyweight, another division in which she occupies a spot inside the top 10.
In her last appearance as a strawweight, the 31-year-old stopped Luana Pinheiro in highlight reel fashion with a late spinning wheel kick. She's riding back-to-back wins in the weight class, having previously got the better of a top-five contender in Virna Jandiroba.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at UFC Vegas 101 on Jan. 11 are as follows:
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas (women's strawweight main event)
- Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov (middleweight)
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris (welterweight)
- Thiago Moisés vs. Trey Ogden (lightweight)
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. César Almeida (middleweight)
- Austin Bashi vs. Christian Rodriguez (featherweight)
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Yanal Ashmouz (lightweight)
- Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Nicolle Caliari (women's flyweight)
- Punahele Soriano vs. Uroš Medić (welterweight)
- Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes (flyweight)
- Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes (light heavyweight)
- Andreas Gustafsson vs. Preston Parsons (welterweight)
- Victoria Dudakova vs. Fatima Kline (women's strawweight)