Five years removed from their first encounter, Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas will run it back.
Dern vs. Ribas 2 has been booked to take place at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 14 in Tampa, Fla., which is slated to close out the promotion’s 2024 schedule. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie on Monday following an initial report by Ag. Fight on X.
The bout is a rematch from UFC Fight Night 161 in October 2019, which Ribas won by unanimous decision. At the time, both women were just starting their UFC tenures. The matchup was Dern’s third promotional appearance and Ribas’ second.
Oct 12, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Mackenzie Dern (red gloves) fights Amanda Ribas (blue glove) during UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Dern (19-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Ribas (12-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) have struggled to gain and maintain momentum, with both ladies posting 3-4 records in their past seven bouts that date back to 2021.
Dern will enter the fight off a unanimous decision win over Loopy Godinez, which she earned earlier this month to snap a two-fight skid at UFC on ABC 7. Ribas, meanwhile, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in a headlining bout at UFC on ESPN 53 this past March.
