Tonight’s UFC Vegas 61 event was headlined by a key women’s strawweight matchup featuring Mackenzie Dern taking on Xiaonan Yan.
Dern (12-3 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since defeating Tecia Torres at UFC 273. The jiu-jitsu ace had gone 5-1 over her past six Octagon appearances overall, with three of those five wins coming by way of submission.
Meanwhile, Xiaonan Yan (16-3 MMA) had entered tonight’s UFC Vegas 61 main event with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. ‘Fury’ had suffered losses to Carla Esparza and Marina Rodriguez in her two most recent efforts, but prior to that was on a twelve-fight unbeaten streak.
Tonight’s ‘Dern vs. Yan’ headliner resulted in a solid back and forth affair. Mackenzie Dern was able to dominate rounds two and five on the canvas, but round 1, 3 and 4 were clearly in favor of the Chinese standout. After twenty-five minutes of action it was pretty clear that the bout would either go to Yan or be ruled a draw. Unfortunately for Dern, only one judge awarded her with a 10-8 round and thus she lost a majority decision.
Official UFC Vegas 61 Result: Xiaonan Yan def. Mackenzie Dern by majority decision (48-47 x2, 47-47)
Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Dern vs. Yan’ below:
Let’s go @MackenzieDern!!! #TeamJP
— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) October 2, 2022
Yan getting busy #UFCVegas61
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) October 2, 2022
Zuckermanberg Fighting Championships
— Al Iaquinta🗽 (@ALIAQUINTA) October 2, 2022
Bruh @MackenzieDern
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) October 2, 2022
Jiu Jitsu class in the 2nd round @MackenzieDern 🇧🇷🥋#UFCVegas61
— Arianelipski (@Ariane_lipski) October 2, 2022
1-1 but dern ran away with that round! #UFCVegas61
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) October 2, 2022
3-1 Yan. Dern needs a finish! #UFCVegas61
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) October 2, 2022
A dominant round for Dern at 10-8 would make it a draw! #UFCVegas61
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) October 2, 2022
10-8 round 5 I give it a draw! #UFCVegas61
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) October 2, 2022
Post-fight reactions to Xiaonan Yan defeating Mackenzie Dern at UFC Vegas 61:
Amazing fight ladies! #UFCVegas61 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— Marina Rodriguez MMA (@wmmarz) October 2, 2022
Amazing performance by these two ladies 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #UFCVegas61
— Jalin Turner (@JalinTurner) October 2, 2022
Great win for Yan #ufcvegas61
— Jared Vanderaa (@Jaredvanderaa) October 2, 2022
Think that was the right scorecard, good scrap, dern was closer to finishing the fight but yan won 3 rounds 💯 #UFCVegas61
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) October 2, 2022
Who would you like to see Xiaonan Yan fight next following her majority decision victory over Mackenzie Dern this evening in Las Vegas? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
