A strawweight bout featuring top grappling aces Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba is being reported for UFC 256 on December 12.
Per MMAFighting.com, a matchup between ranked contenders Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba is set to take place on December 12 at UFC 256 in Las Vegas. Both women are coming off impressive submissions over the summer and the fight is expected to propel the winner further towards the top ten.
Popular Jiu-Jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern (9-1) has bounced back from the first loss of her career with two first round submission victories in 2020. In May, Dern secured the first kneebar by a woman in the UFC when she submitted Hannah Cifers and followed the performance up with an armor victory over veteran Randa Markos. In the lead-up to the fight with Markos, Dern had expressed that she did hope to keep a consistent schedule after being out over a year in 2019.
An Invicta FC veteran, Virna Jandiroba (16-1) has secured 13 of her 16 victories by some form of submission. After a long layoff following her victory over Mallory Martin in December, “Carcará” returned to action in August where she stopped TUF alum Felice Herrig with a first round armor. Jandiroba is 16-1 overall with her only loss coming to former champion Carla Esparza in 2019.
There is recent speculation about the UFC 253 headliner after welterweight champion Kamaru Usman withdrew from his bout with Gilbert Burns earlier this week. Currently, the card is set to feature featherweight champion Amanda Nunes defending her title against Megan Anderson but it is uncertain if the bout will be promoted to the main event.
