UFC women’s strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern reacted to her first successful title defense against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330.
Dern won a unanimous decision as she used her grappling advantage to control Robertson on the mat for large durations of their UFC 330 co-main event. She also outstruck her opponent when the fight took place on the feet, leading to what was a mostly easy decision win for the champ as she notched the first successful title defense of her career since she won the vacant belt last year.
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Mackenzie Dern Reacts to UFC 330 Title Fight Win
Taking to her social media following UFC 330, Dern reacted to successfully defending her title for the first time.
“Defended what is ours! 1st title defense! Thank God, my team, my family, my sponsors, my friends and the fans! Focused on improving everyday! #andstill #UFC330,” Dern wrote on her Instagram.
Who Will Mackenzie Dern Fight Next?
After notching her first successful women’s strawweight title defense against Robertson, Dern’s next assignment will likely be a much more difficult one, as the expectation is that she will fight former champ Weili Zhang.
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This will be a very tough fight for Dern if it’s booked, as Zhang has been one of the best women’s fighters in the world for several years now. She also did not lose her belt in a fight, as she gave it up in an ill-fated attempt to move up to 125 lbs and win the UFC women’s flyweight belt from Valentina Shevchenko last year at UFC 322, a move that did not pan out for her.
Still, despite that loss to Shevchenko, Zhang is clearly one of the best women’s MMA fighters in the world, and she is well deserving of getting the opportunity to battle Dern for the title.
If it’s not Zhang, then another fight that could make sense is Tatiana Suarez, who has long been one of the top fighters in the weight class. But Suarez lost to Zhang in her title shot last year, so fans likely would prefer that it were Zhang who got the title shot against Dern next time out.
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