Tatiana Suarez challenges Zhang Weili for the UFC strawweight championship when the octagon lands in Sydney for UFC 312 on Feb. 8, and Mackenzie Dern will be rooting for the upset.
Suarez is undefeated as a professional with seven of her 10 wins happening inside the UFC cage, but hasn’t been that active over the years due to injuries. Meanwhile, the odds-on favorite Zhang has looked more dominant than ever since reclaiming the UFC title in 2022, defending it twice already against Amanda Lemos and Yan Xiaonan.
For Dern, who headlines this weekend’s UFC Vegas 101 in a rematch against Amanda Ribas, a win for Suarez would be more interesting because of how they match up style-wise.
“My focus is the belt,” Dern told MMA Fighting. “But honestly, I prefer that Tatiana wins the belt [laughs]. I’d much rather fight a grappler, so I’m rooting for Tatiana to go there and win because [fighting] Zhang Weili would be much harder. I want Tatiana to go there and score a takedown. And then we stay on the ground to win the belt [laughs].”
Suarez hasn’t fought in well over a year, having multiple fights cancelled since choking out Jessica Andrade in August 2023, and Dern sounded surprised she’s coming back so soon to the cage after cancelling a clash with Virna Jandiroba in early December due to a health issue.
“She pulled out of a fight with Virna last month and is already fine to fight for the belt. It’s crazy,” said Dern, eyeing a potential title shot in the near future with a big victory over Ribas in Las Vegas.
“Tatiana is always getting injured, she hasn’t fought in a while, but she’s undefeated. … The way I see it, Tatiana left the Virna fight with an injury and is already fighting for the belt, so all we need is a little winning streak here and we can get in there.”
A decision over Lupita Godinez in her most recent octagon appearance in August 2024 had Dern rebound from a Fight of the Night bonus-winning defeat to Amanda Lemos six months prior, and she anticipates another exciting clash under the bright lights of the UFC APEX on Saturday.
“I think this fight will go five rounds,” Dern said. “I normally think I’m getting the submission and I want a submission, but Amanda is tough. You have to stop her to win because she comes forward non-stop, she has heart and can take a punch. And she has good reach for the strawweight division, too. I don’t think it’s going to be easy to close the distance, I think he has good defense, and that’s why I think it’s going to be the fight of the night.”
