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A future title shot could be on the line in a battle between two of the UFC’s top promising female talents.
Mackenzie Dern will face Marina Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The two are on winning streaks looking to take the lead in the UFC’s competitive women’s strawweight division.
ESPN ranks Rodriguez No. 4 and Dern No. 6 at 155 pounds in women. The winner could find herself close to a title shot, with No.1 Rose Namajunas defending against No.2 Zhang Weili at UFC 268 on November 6 in New York City. Carla Esparza is ranked No.3 and she will likely win the winner Namajunas against Zhang, but Dern’s winner against Rodriguez would be in the game.
Dern (11-1), once considered the world’s top pound-for-pound female jiu-jitsu competitor, has won four in a row and comes off a first-round submission against Nina Nunes in April. The Brazilian-born Arizona native fights in Orange County, Calif., Under coach Jason Parillo, who has coached legends BJ Penn, Michael Bisping and Cris Cyborg. Dern, 28, is 6-1 in the UFC with her only loss to Amanda Ribas in 2019.
Rodriguez (14-1-2) won back-to-back wins, most recently a unanimous decision victory over Michelle Waterson in May. The Brazilian native is 4-1-2 in the UFC with a pair of draws against Cynthia Calvillo and Randa Markos. Rodriguez, 34, has only been a professional MMA fighter since 2015. Prior to that, she had participated in Muay Thai.
In the main co-event, Randy Brown takes on Jared Gooden in a promising welterweight battle. Brown (13-4) has won three of his last four fights. Gooden (18-6) won four of six.
Also on the card, Tim Elliott meets Matheus Nicolau in what should be an all-action flyweight scrapper, Sabina Mazo takes on Mariya Agapova in a women’s flyweight bout and future heavyweight Alexandr Romanov tries to stay undefeated against Jared Vanderaa. .
Follow Marc Raimondi recapping all the action and watch the fights on ESPN +.
Current fight:
Men’s featherweight: Charles Rosa (14-5, 4-1-1 UFC; +150) against Damon Jackson (18-4-1, 1 NC; 1-2-1, 1 NC UFC; -175)
Straw weight: Loopy Godinez (6-1, 1-1 UFC) def. Silvana Gomez Juárez (10-3, 0-1 PDU) by submission in the first round (cuff) | Watch this fight on ESPN +
Godinez dominated all the way with his wrestling and grappling. Then she switched from the back to a beautiful armband, and the arrival of submission came at 4:14 of the first round.
Godinez, a 28-year-old Mexican who fights in Vancouver, earned her first UFC victory after falling to Jessica Penne by split decision in April. Godinez is a former LFA strawweight champion. 36-year-old Argentine Gomez Juarez was making her UFC debut on short notice.
Godinez has lost his original opponent, Sam Hughes, due to COVID-19 protocols. Gomez Juarez, who was scheduled to appear in Dana White’s Contender series on Tuesday, has been called up for that fight. Gomez Juarez ended a three-game winning streak.
Lightweight: Steve Garcia (12-4, 1-1 UFC) def. Charlie ontiveros (11-8, 0-2 UFC) by TKO in the second round (strikes) | Watch this fight on ESPN +
Garcia was dropped twice in the first round, but Ontiveros opened late in the first round and finished on the ground – from the mount – with punches a lap later. The official result was a TKO at 1:51 of the second round.
Garcia, a 29-year-old New Mexico native, had five of six wins, but it was his first UFC victory. Ontiveros, a 30-year-old fighter from Texas, lost two games in a row to start his UFC run. Ontiveros made his UFC middleweight debut last October, and in that fight, competed in a division that weighs 30 pounds lighter.
Yet to come
Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern (11-1, 6-1 UFC; -170) vs. Marina Rodriguez (14-1-2, 4-1-2 UFC; +145)
Welterweight: Randy Brown (13-4, 7-4 UFC; -230) vs. Jared Gooden (18-6, 1-2 UFC; +190)
Flyweight men: Tim Elliott (18-11-1, 6-9 UFC; +170) vs. Matheus Nicolau (16-3-1, 4-1 UFC; -200)
Flyweight Women: Sabina Mazo (9-2, 3-2 UFC; -170) vs. Mariya Agapova (9-2, 1-1 UFC; +145)
Men’s bantamweight: Chris Gutierrez (16-3-2, 4-1-1 UFC; -260) vs. Felipe Colares (10-2, 2-2 UFC; +210)
Heavyweight: Alexandr Romanov (14-0, 3-0 UFC; -625) vs. Jared Vanderaa (12-5, 1-1 UFC; +450)
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