UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk vs. Waterson
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
Just four months after giving birth to her daughter, Dern will make her return to the Octagon against Ribas in a crucial clash between rising stars in the strawweight division.
A decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor whose transition to MMA has garnered an abundance of attention, the 26-year-old Dern edged out Ashley Yoder in her promotional debut at UFC 222, then returned two months later to make quick work of Amanda Cooper at UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro. Now 7-0 as a professional, this feels like the point where any of the questions that remain about Dern will start to be answered as she’s returning to a dangerous matchup and could find herself thrust into the Top 15 mix with another impressive effort here.
After nearly three full years without a fight, Ribas made a major impression in her UFC debut, walking into the Octagon with a smile on her face and defeating Emily Whitmire at the end of June. The American Top Team representative showed outstanding control on the ground and an ability to patiently work for the finish, establishing herself as someone to keep close tabs on going forward.
This one sets up as an elimination bout of sorts, where the winner becomes the young grappling standout that gets a push in 2020, although the loser won’t cede too much ground given their respective pedigrees and overall potential.
Cub Swanson vs. Kron Gracie
When the dust settles in this one, we’re going to have a much better understanding of where each of these men are at in their respective careers and how that factors into the hierarchy in the featherweight division.
There are going to be people who automatically want to dismiss the 35-year-old Swanson because he enters on a four-fight losing streak, but that would be a mistake as those losses have all come against a pair of title challengers, a proven Top 10 stalwart and an up-and-coming contender. “Killer Cub” has bounced back from rough spots before and has a considerable edge in experience and is a complete fighter who could certainly spoil Gracie’s sophomore appearance in the Octagon.
I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting Gracie to look as good as he did in his promotional debut back in February, where he calmly sauntered into the cage, climbed on Alex Caceres’ back, kicked off the fence and choked him out. I was blown away and have been waiting to see what he does for an encore ever since.
This is a step up in competition and he’ll need to wade through some quick, sharp punches in order to make this a grappling match, but given what he’s done thus far in his relatively brief, but impressive MMA career, the possibility that Gracie is just a next-level grappler who suffocates opponents and imposes his will on them without much resistance is one that cannot be dismissed.
Will Swanson get back into the win column by showing the second-generation submission ace isn’t quite ready to move into the Top 15 or can Gracie continue to dominate and put himself in a position to make a serious run at contention in 2020 with a second straight UFC win?
