It looks like Mackenzie Dern will have to wait a bit longer for her to fully silence some of her doubters.
Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) finally booked her first fight as UFC strawweight champion – a ****** le defense against top contender Gillian Robertson in the co-main event of UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Although there's no denying Robertson (17-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is a deserving contender, many expected Dern to face Zhang Weili, who never lost the strawweight belt. She vacated it to pursue a second divisional ****** le at flyweight. Weili ended up coming short against UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in November, and voiced her interest in a return to 115 pounds.
Dern, like many, was under the impression this was her next fight, but for some reason, it didn't materialize.
"I can't give you that response," Dern said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I don't know. I don't know. They were talking about Weili. They had mentioned Macau, and the White House, New Jersey. I'm not sure what happened or what's going on. They came back with Gillian Robertson, I think after her win against Amanda Lemos, that was maybe April. So yeah, it's August 15."
Because Weili vacated the belt and never lost it, many still see her as the best female fighter at 115 pounds. Dern is well aware of the narrative that's been built, but even then wasn't sad she didn't get the opportunity to erase any doubts.
Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) finally booked her first fight as UFC strawweight champion – a ****** le defense against top contender Gillian Robertson in the co-main event of UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Although there's no denying Robertson (17-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is a deserving contender, many expected Dern to face Zhang Weili, who never lost the strawweight belt. She vacated it to pursue a second divisional ****** le at flyweight. Weili ended up coming short against UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in November, and voiced her interest in a return to 115 pounds.
Dern, like many, was under the impression this was her next fight, but for some reason, it didn't materialize.
"I can't give you that response," Dern said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I don't know. I don't know. They were talking about Weili. They had mentioned Macau, and the White House, New Jersey. I'm not sure what happened or what's going on. They came back with Gillian Robertson, I think after her win against Amanda Lemos, that was maybe April. So yeah, it's August 15."
Because Weili vacated the belt and never lost it, many still see her as the best female fighter at 115 pounds. Dern is well aware of the narrative that's been built, but even then wasn't sad she didn't get the opportunity to erase any doubts.
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