UFC women's strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern says she isn't sure why a showdown with former titleholder Zhang Weili isn't happening next.
Dern captured the vacant 115-pound championship with a victory over Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 last October after Zhang vacated the title to pursue flyweight gold. Following Zhang's unsuccessful bid to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko, many expected her to return to strawweight and challenge Dern for the belt she never lost inside the division.
Instead, reports recently surfaced that Dern will defend her title against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 in Philadelphia on Aug. 15.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Dern admitted she doesn't know why Zhang isn't the one standing across from her.
"I can't give you that response. I don't know. I don't know. That means they were talking about Weili. They had mentioned Macau and then the White House (or) New Jersey, so I'm not sure. I'm not sure what happened or what's going on, but they came back with Gillian Robertson, I think, after her win against Amanda Lemos. I was like, maybe April. And so, yeah. And then August 15th in Philadelphia, which I think is where she trains out of. I'm not sure, but I think she's local from there. So yeah, it'll be exciting. So I'm not sure. I'm not sure what's the deal with Weili or what's happening."
While Dern acknowledged that a fight with Zhang remains one of the biggest matchups in the division, she said she wasn't disappointed when the UFC paired her with Robertson instead.
Rather than feeling pressure to validate her championship reign by defeating the former champion, Dern views a potential fight with Zhang as an opportunity to measure herself against one of the best fighters in the sport.
"No, definitely wasn't disappointed. I mean, I would be excited to fight her, but not in a pressure way, you know what I mean? As in like, 'oh, I need to prove people.' I feel like there's a lot of people who talk about like, oh, I'm not the champ because I didn't beat her, things like that, you know? So for me. It would just be an honor, and I'd really like to test myself, and it would be amazing to beat her. If I have six more months or whatever, however many title fights I can get in and just get better and better and be even more prepared to fight her. I'm excited for that."
For now, Dern's attention turns to Robertson as she looks to make the first successful defense of her strawweight title. A clash with Zhang could still materialize down the road, but according to the champion, she has received no explanation as to why the former titleholder isn't next in line.
