Dern dismisses need to face Zhang Weili to prove strawweight legitimacy after UFC 330 defence

Mackenzie Dern retained the UFC strawweight championship with a commanding unanimous decision over Gillian Robertson in the co-main event of UFC 330 on Saturday, backing up her vacant-title victory over Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 last October with her first successful defence.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Dern pushed back firmly on the notion that a win over former champion Zhang Weili is required to legitimise her reign. Zhang vacated the 115-pound title after moving up to flyweight in an unsuccessful challenge against Valentina Shevchenko, and her future weight class remains unclear.

“No,” Dern said when asked whether the Zhang fight had to happen for her to be considered the true champion. “I felt like the champion before when I won the belt, but I just think I solidified myself even more as the champ for the fans. I don’t think I need to win Weili to be a champ. People retire — I’m not saying that’s what she’s going to do — but the more defences I can get, whoever comes next, I think I proved that I was the champ.”

Dern pointed to the calibre of her recent opponents as further evidence of her standing. “Gillian was on a five-fight win streak, Virna was on a five-fight win streak, I just became a four-fight win streak. I don’t know how much more I need to do to prove that.”

Zhang remains the most prominent name in the strawweight contender picture, though Tatiana Suarez, Alexia Thainara, and rising prospect Fatima Kline have all built compelling cases. Dern said she has no preference on who comes next and is leaving the matchmaking to the UFC.

“I don’t hope for anybody. Whoever the UFC gives to me, I’ll be ready,” she said, adding that she is targeting a return around March — roughly six months away — with the aim of fitting two fights into the year.

The one note of frustration on an otherwise dominant evening was her inability to finish Robertson. Dern threatened with tight chokes and a leg-lock attempt, but Robertson survived to the final bell.

“Honestly, it feels good, but it could feel even better if I would have got the submission,” Dern said. “I’m someone that’s always looking for the best performance possible. I’m happy with my wrestling, I’m happy with the dominance of the fight, but I wanted to submit Gillian, for sure. I still see lots of things I want to get better, but I definitely feel like I solidified myself as the champ.”