Mackenzie Dern’s title opportunity turned out to be just as much of a surprise to her as it was to many fans.

UFC CEO Dana White confirmed last week that strawweight champion Zhang Weili has relinquished her belt to pursue two-division glory, setting up a superfight with reigning flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event of UFC 322 on November 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Mackenzie Dern Reveals Surprise Discovery Of Title Shot On Instagram

During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Mackenzie Dern opened up about her upcoming strawweight title clash with Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321.

The No. 5 ranked contender admitted she was aware a championship opportunity was on the horizon, be it for interim gold or the undisputed crown, but revealed she discovered the final verdict at the same time as everyone else when the UFC made its announcement public.

[The UFC] were kind of talking about the interim belt, and that was maybe three weeks ago, four weeks ago," Dern said. "They were talking about it, but weren't sure if they were going to do it. Then [we found out], 'OK, they're going to do it, [so] we'll wait until they announce it.' And then I found out by Instagram that it was going to be for the actual belt when Dana announced it.

I texted [my manager] Tiki [Ghosn], 'Wait, is it the real belt or the interim belt?' [He said,] 'Oh, it's the real belt.' So that was very recent, the change. We were happy with the interim belt — it's still a belt and would be the next step to getting the [undisputed] belt. But the fact that it's for the real belt definitely puts an extra happiness and gratefulness on it.

Dern and Jandiroba first met at UFC 256 in December 2020, where Dern outworked “Carcará” over three rounds to secure a unanimous decision victory.