UFC Vegas 101’s Mackenzie Dern regrets accepting first Amanda Ribas fight four months postpartum: ‘My career took a different turn’

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No. 6 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Strawweight Mackenzie Dern returns to action in her fourth main event this weekend (Sat., Jan. 11, 2025) at UFC Vegas 101 in a rematch against No. 8 seeded Amanda Ribas, which is set to go down inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The pair of top contenders met back in 2019 at UFC Tampa and Ribas handed Dern her first professional loss via unanimous decision, derailing Dern’s hype train.

Today (Weds., Jan. 8, 2025), Dern revealed that she regrets taking the fight against Ribas especially because it was four months after giving birth to her daughter.

“Yeah, [I regret it] a little bit. I mean, I think I still would have losses in my career, and, you know, I’m still happy to where I’m at today. I think that’s what made me be who I am today,” Dern told MMAMania.com at UFC Vegas 101 media day (watch here). “So, I can’t totally regret it, but for me, I think if I could go back again, I would have waited a little bit longer...And nowadays, I understand with just two consecutive wins, you be in line for a title. That’s the goal, to be a champion, and maybe I would have kept being undefeated, like Tatiana Suarez.

“So, I feel like my career took a different turn with my decision,” Dern added. “I went back and watched the fight and I thought I did pretty good, for everything that I had gone through...But, yeah, I think I was scared of the ring rust, you know, at that time. And I wasn’t even, like, a real MMA fighter. I didn’t even know what the ring rust was...I said, ‘No, I don’t want out longer. I was already out for one year basically and the fans were saying I’ll never come back. And in my last fight, I had just missed weight. I was on a roll and I wanted to show that, just because I had a baby, I’ll be back in and everything like that...So, yeah, definitely, wish I would have had the composure to think, like, no, take it slower. Take a little bit more time. You know, four months is fast.”

While Dern rebounded with four straight wins after her loss to Ribas, maybe she would have been pushed even quicker up the UFC ladder.

Nevertheless, both women believe this fight is pivotal for who will fight for the Strawweight title and believe a dominant win will let them leapfrog top contender Virna Jandiroba, who is waiting for a title shot.

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STRAWWEIGHT SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads back to its APEX venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., Jan. 11, 2025, with an important 115-pound main event featuring jiu-jitsu phenom Mackenzie Dern, who looks to avenge her 2019 loss to Brazilian bruiser Amanda Ribas. In addition, longtime welterweight slugger Santiago Ponzinibbio returns to face off against “Mocambique” mauler Carlston Harris in UFC Vegas 101’s hard-hitting co-headliner.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 101 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 7 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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