Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A major strawweight battle between two elite grapplers is
on the books for to the year-end
Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event. On Friday,
MMA Fighting first reported that Mackenzie
Dern (9-1) has agreed to take on Virna
Jandiroba (16-1) at strawweight at UFC
256.
Other outlets have since confirmed the booking arrangement,
while noting that the two have not yet signed their contracts.
Should this bout come to fruition on Dec. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, it will be between two jiu-jitsu masters that have earned a
combined 19 submission victories across their 25 career wins.
Dern recently competed at UFC Fight Night 178 in September, where
she tapped Randa
Markos with a first-round armbar. In that bout, Dern became the
first fighter to put Markos on a losing streak, as the Canadian had
never before lost consecutive bouts. Since joining the promotion,
the Arizona native that trains out of Brazil has earned three
submission wins. Dern
holds the most first-round submissions of any female UFC
fighter, and is one shy of the all-time submission record for women
inside the Octagon.
Jandiroba rebounded from her first career defeat in April 2019 by
submitting Mallory
Martin in December and Felice
Herrig in August. In the latter, she handed Herrig her first
stoppage loss across the vet’s 23-fight career. The former Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight
queen has rattled off 13 submission wins among her 16 triumphs,
good for a stoppage rate of 81 percent. Neither she nor Dern have
ever won a fight due to strikes, nor have they ever lost a bout by
submission.
UFC 256 goes down on Dec. 12 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the
event recently lost its headliner of Kamaru
Usman vs. Gilbert
Burns for the welterweight strap. The promotion has yet to
indicate whether the featherweight title fight between Amanda
Nunes and Megan
Anderson will serve as the new main event, or if a new fight
will be made atop the card. The previously announced match of
Amanda
Ribas vs. Carla
Esparza has also changed, as Esparza will not be competing at
the event after all.
