Entering 2026, Mackenzie Dern is the strawweight champion. Fighting Virna Jandiroba for the vacant belt at UFC 321, Dern was able to out-point her foe to finally secure gold. The reason that the belt was vacant is because former champion, Zhang Weili, was scheduled to move up in weight to clash with Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight belt.
Weili was stripped of her belt, a new rule for the UFC, after seeking a belt in a different division. It’s worth noting that the Chinese superstar didn’t lose the 115lbs belt in the octagon.
The assumption is that Magnum will now return to her natural weight of 115lbs after getting completely dominated by Shevchenko at UFC 322. She looked tiny in comparison to Bullet, which means that she’ll more than likely drop back down in weight.
There’s no reason to suggest that she has to yet again prove herself fit for a title shot at strawweight and a presumed match-up between Mackenzie Dern and Zhang Weili will take place in 2026.
John Wood Suggests Zhang Weili vs Mackenzie Dern for the Strawweight Strap
Ahead of that potential bout, Weili’s coach, John Wood, has been discussing the fight and noted that the belt Dern holds is “Weili’s belt“.
He also noted that “There’s obviously a clear cut path to go back and take that title from Mackenzie — no disrespect to Mackenzie”, suggesting that his fighter would have no issues beating Dern to get her belt back.
It may not be as easy as Wood suggests, with Dern showing clear improvements fight on fight.
Embed from Getty ImagesCould you see a fight between Zhang Weili and the champion, Mackenzie Dern, materialise? Let us know in the comments!
