Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas headlined the first UFC event of 2025. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Mackenzie Dern kicked off 2025 with a heaping helping of revenge.
The strawweight jiu-jitsu ace submitted Amanda Ribas with a nasty third-round armbar on Saturday night in the main event of UFC Vegas 101, which took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. It was redemption five years in the making for Dern after Ribas toppled her from the ranks of the unbeaten with a one-sided decision loss in 2019.
Dern (15-5) has now won back-to-back bouts after struggling through a 2-4 slump from late 2021 to early 2024. Saturday’s result also moved Dern into a tie for second all-time for submissions in UFC strawweight history (5) and marked her first tapout win since besting Nina Nunes with an armbar in 2021.
“I just want to get another win in a row,” Dern said post-fight of her 2025 plans. “So I don’t know who that will be — I’d hope someone in front [of me in the rankings], but I’ve fought almost everyone in the front. The only one [I haven’t fought] is Tatiana [Suarez] and she’s going for the belt, so I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Dern, 31, looked strong from the outset, muscling Ribas (13-6) to the floor with a single-leg takedown in the early stages of the opening round — a facet of her game that has historically been a major weakness. Dern controlled much of the action from top position, but then found herself underneath Ribas, 31, for long swathes of the second and third rounds after Ribas went 2-for-2 on takedowns of her own.
Undeterred, Dern leaned on her background as a jiu-jitsu champion and utilized slick sweeps to return to top position both times. She made that advantage count the most in the third round, whirling for an armbar and prompting an instant tap from her rival with just seconds left on the clock.
The official time of the stoppage was 4:56 of Round 3.
Ribas has now dropped two straight bouts and is just 3-5 over her past eight UFC appearances. Her loss to Dern marked the first time she has been submitted in her professional MMA career.
In the night’s co-main event, welterweight veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio (30-8) staged a wild rally after getting badly hurt in the opening round to secure a third-round TKO stoppage of Carlston Harris (19-7).
Catch complete results and highlights of UFC Vegas 101’s finish-heavy card below, as well as Uncrowned’s live blog of the Dern vs. Ribas 2 main event.
Main Card
Mackenzie Dern def. Amanda Ribas via submission (armbar) at 4:56 of Round 3 | Watch finish
Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Carlston Harris via TKO (punches) at 3:13 of Round 3 | Watch finish
Cesar Almeida def. Abdul Razak Alhassan via KO (punch) at 4:16 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Roman Kopylov def. Chris Curtis via TKO (strikes) at 4:59 of Round 3 | Watch finish
Christian Rodriguez def. Austin Bashi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Punahele Soriano def. Uros Medic via TKO (punches) at :31 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Preliminary Card
Felipe Bunes def. Jose Johnson via submission (armbar) at 2:04 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Marco Tulio def. Ihor Potieria via TKO (punches) at 3:04 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Bruno Lopes def. Magomed Gadzhiyasulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Fatima Kline def. Viktoriia Dudakova via TKO (strikes) at 4:27 of Round 2 | Watch finish
Nurullo Aliev def. Joe Solecki via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER45 updates
OFFICIAL RESULT
Mackenzie Dern def. Amanda Ribas via submission (armbar) at 4:56 of Round 3.
Reaction
ARMBAR! There’s the danger of Mackenzie Dern… Damn. She gets redemption on her first career loss to Ribas and her first submission in four years. Big win for the BJJ ace.
High kick is blocked by Ribas. They’re going right back it. Right hand by Ribas. Let’s see how long it takes for Dern to shoot another takedown. Dern closes the distance and ties up, muscling Ribas up against the fence. Ribas trips Dern to the floor and settles into top position again. She has absolutely no fear of Dern’s bottom game. Dern snatches up Ribas’ left arm! Oh dang, that’s a deep, deep armbar attempt. Ribas is in serious trouble here. Ninety seconds left in the round. Ribas is being patient and crunching Dern’s attempt. Ooooh, Dern sweeps into top position! That was slick.
Forty seconds left for Dern to work from the top. Big punches from Dern. She whirls for an armbar — and she gets it!!! WOW!!!! Frantic tap from Ribas with seconds left on the clock!
Wooooow. That was impressive.
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2 – Round 2
Let’s see if Dern can get this one to the ground again. And she instantly tries! Another single-leg — but this time Ribas defends and winds up in top position. Ribas needs to get out of here, Dern is still dangerous from the bottom. Looks like Dern cut Ribas around the right eye with an elbow during that transition. Ribas is working from the top with short punches but she’s playing with fire. Dern unloads a few elbows from the bottom. Ribas continues to work from the top as we hit 80 seconds left in this round. Omoplata attempt from Dern! Oh my goodness, that was beautiful. She uses the position to start a scramble and tie up Ribas arms with her legs. That was wild, and Dern uses it to sweep into top position.
10-9 Ribas. (19-19 overall.)
Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2 – Round 1
Dern kicks low to start. Ribas goes high then low with kicks of her own. Dern charges inside with a stiff one-two. Ribas catches her clean with a left hand counter. Spinning back kick to the midsection for Ribas. Quick pace here right off the bat. Dern goes back to her calf kicks, then eats a right hand. Ribas pumps out her jab. Dern snatches a single-leg takedown and bull-rushes Ribas to the floor! Whoa there. Where’s that been, Mackenzie? If Dern has figured out some wrestler, watch out.
Ribas locks up her guard and refuses to give the jiu-jitsu ace any room to work. Ribas isn’t even trying to escape — she’s just trying to run out this final minute on the clock. Dern still can’t pry free. Dern drops a few short punches from the top as the horn sounds.
10-9 Dern.
Joe Martinez does the honors
Both women look focused. Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Ron McCarthy are the judges. Referee Mark Smith oversees the action. They touch ‘em up and we’re off.
And here comes Dern, hunting for revenge
Important main event here for the strawweight division, which needs an emergence of contenders behind Virna Jandiroba. Dern and Ribas have worked for a while to get their shot, but each has been unable to overcome some big hurdles to get there. Tonight, it’s each other.
Here we go, y’all. Nearly five years after Amanda Ribas upset Mackenzie Dern and handed the jiu-jitsu phenom her first career MMA loss, we’re about to run this one back.
Keep it locked to Uncrowned for live play-by-play of this strawweight main event.
Prediction: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2
115 pounds: Mackenzie Dern (+165) vs. Amanda Ribas (-200)
Our first UFC main event of 2025 feels like it’s getting unnecessarily overlooked. It’s a better and more intriguing rematch than it’s gotten credit for, but that’s to be expected when a stacked night of action like UFC 311 is right around the corner.
The first Dern vs. Ribas fight admittedly feels like ages ago — and to an extent, it was. Dern, a perpetual terror on the mats with her world-class jiu-jitsu game, was on an undefeated 7-0 strawweight on a superstar’s rise — then she ran into Ribas, who handed her loss No. 1 via a lopsided unanimous decision.
In only her second UFC appearance, Ribas, 31, styled on Dern. Although Dern had shown growth in her overall game, primarily with her punching power, Ribas was significantly more developed as an MMA fighter than her counterpart in 2019.
Ribas used her defensive grappling to force Dern into exchanges that saw the submission wizard eat punch after punch like they were biscuits at a Golden Corral buffet. That, of course, was made even easier thanks to Dern’s inability to pull off traditional takedowns — she went zero for six on her attempts.
The latter is still a strong weakness in Dern’s game despite having gotten ever so slightly better with offensive wrestling over the years. Dern typically tries to drag her opponents down with her body weight — no matter how ugly the technique may look — and her success rate varies mightily. That path to victory once again won’t be there against Ribas, and Dern’s technical striking is still a notch below.
Two extra rounds for a main event make this fight more interesting, because the opening three rounds will likely look similar to their first bout. As Dern has spent more time in the Octagon, opponents have become better prepared for her strong ground game. Although she’s been difficult to stop entirely in that realm, Dern hasn’t won by submission since a first-round armbar against Nina Nunes in April 2021.
Even if Ribas finds herself on the bottom, she’s never gassed terribly and has yet to be submitted herself. Dern has her work cut out again as she tries to overcome what will likely be a similar game plan to the first Ribas fight.
Pick: Ribas
Reaction
Ponzi does it! Bit of a rally after that first round. No quit in that man.
Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Carlston Harris via TKO (punches) at 3:13 of Round 3.
Prediction: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris
170 pounds: Santiago Ponzinibbio (-145) vs. Carlston Harris (+120)
The 2010s were simpler times. Santiago Ponzinibbio was on the rise, putting Argentina on the map and welterweights on notice — then the dastardly injury bug stole it all away.
Ponzinibbio hasn’t been the same since his career-best seven-fight winning streak from 2015 to 2018. A once-brutal knockout artist, Ponzinibbio (29-8) is 2-5 in his past seven fights, a slump that began after returning from injury layoff in 2021. However, that record doesn’t tell the whole story. Three of those losses were hard-fought, wild split decision affairs against Geoff Neal, Michel Pereira and Muslim Salikhov. And in victory, Ponzinibbio started the downfall of the once-promising talent Miguel Baeza before an absurd comeback knockout of fellow veteran Alex Morono.
Some glimmers of past brilliance remain in the Argentine’s tank. His leg kicks remain lethal weapons, and his power hasn’t faded in the least. On the other hand, Carlston Harris has been a kill-or-be-killed competitor of the highest order.
The Brazilian will likely make this a gritty bout, utilizing his grappling with his brawling ways, but Ponzibbio has, more often than not, been savvy enough to outlast fighters who try to grind him down. Chins will be checked in this one, but expect Ponzinibbio’s to hold the longest — and him to crack Harris in the process.
Pick: Ponzinibbio
Reaction
That knockout was violent enough for all of 2025, and we’re only on the first UFC event. Maaaaan.
Cesar Almeida def. Abdul Razak Alhassan via KO (punch) at 4:16 of Round 1.
OH MY LORD
César Almeida just did terrible things to Abdul Razak Alhassan…
Prediction: César Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
185 pounds: César Almeida (-275) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (+220)
It’s great to see the UFC give us an extremely “middleweighty” fight to start 2025.
Longtime fans will remember the welterweight days of Abdul Razak Alhassan and his ferocious violence delivery system. Unfortunately, 185 pounds hasn’t been as kind to him.
Alhassan only spent 37 seconds in the Octagon in 2024 and his lone encounter with Cody Brundage ended with a no contest due to some illegal elbows to the back of the head. It’s been one fight per year for “Judo Thunder” since 2021. Meanwhile, César Almeida fought three times in 2024, making up for his gap of inactivity from December 2021 to August 2023.
There’s a lot less tread on the 39-year-old Alhassan’s MMA tires at this point compared to his 6-1 counterpart. That’s not to say Almeida is a spring chicken at 36 — he’s an experienced kickboxer with 57 matches (47-8-1, 1 NC). Alhassan has the power to be the first to knock out Almeida in his combat career, however, that’s basically his only chance if he doesn’t employ a heavy wrestling game plan, which is unlikely.
