The UFC is in the process of finalizing a pivotal matchup for the strawweight division. Per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the promotion is currently finalizing a matchup between Mackenzie Dern (10-1) and Nina Ansaroff (10-6).
The fight is expected to take place on April 10th. The fight has not been signed just yet, but the agreements are in place. This will be the first UFC fight for Ansaroff since she gave birth to her daughter in September.
Ansaroff, the wife of two-division UFC champion, Amanda Nunes, is currently ranked fifth in the strawweight division. Prior to her leave of absence in the division to have her daughter, she had gone 4-1 in her last five fights.
Ansaroff really appeared to have turned the corner in her UFC career. She just ran into some trouble against Tatiana Suarez in her last outing. Prior to that she picked up UFC wins over Claudia Gadelha, Randa Markos, and Angela Hill.
Ranked UFC strawweights go head-to-head
Mackenzie Dern is coming in at 11th in the UFC‘s strawweight division. Dern just picked up her third straight victory back at UFC 256 when she defeated Virna Jandiroba. The matchup of grapplers allowed us to see the progression of Dern’s striking.
Dern is much improved on the feet, however, there is still a lot of room to grow in her striking. What she’s known for his her world class skills on the ground. She’s arguably the best jiu jitsu practitioner man or woman inside the UFC.
Getting to fight someone in the UFC’s top five is a big step up for Dern. Nina Ansaroff is not going to be an easy out for the jiu jitsu ace. Whoever wins this fight will position themselves very nicely in the strawweight division.
I would venture to say that the winner would only be one or two fights away from a UFC title shot. This should be a fantastic matchup when it goes down on April 10th.