Mackenzie Dern picked up her first submission win in nearly four years when she stopped Amanda Ribas via armbar in the final moments of the third round of their UFC Vegas 101 main event. The UFC Fight Night strawweight bout was a rematch of a meeting between the two in 2019. That fight ended with Ribas earning a decision victory. With her loss on Saturday, Ribas finds herself in the midst of a two-fight defeat, the first of her career. I’m looking at the results, reactions, video highlights and more from the UFC Vegas 101 fight card main event: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas 2.

UFC Vegas 101 was the first fight card on the UFC’s 2025 schedule. The UFC Fight Night event took place on Saturday, January 11th at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire fight card was streamed on ESPN+. The next card on the UFC schedule is the UFC 311 pay-per-view card, scheduled for Saturday, January 18, at the Intuit Dome in California.

UFC Vegas 101 Results: Dern vs. Ribas 2 – Round 1

When the opening betting odds for the UFC Vegas 101 main event were announced, Dern was the +146 betting underdog against Amanda Ribas, who checked in as the -171 betting favorite. Dern was +155 at the start of the fight, while Ribas was -185.

The fight began with both women trying to improve their positioning and reach on the feet. Most of the early punches were kicks from a distance. However, Dern and Ribas switched from kicks to punches within the first minute of the fight. Ribas’ hands and movements were much crisper than Dern’s, whose movements were clumsy and whose punches were slower and wilder than her opponent’s.

Neither fighter was able to hold the center of the octagon for long as both pushed forward at times to land attacks.

Midway through the first stanza, Dern ducked under a right hand from Ribas, allowing her to eliminate her opponent’s guard.

Ribas was active at the beginning and tried to land some punches. Still, she quickly took a defensive stance to prevent Dern, a highly skilled jiu-jitsu practitioner, from finding a chance to secure a submission.

The first round was very close. Neither fighter did much damage on the feet and Dern’s work on the ground was limited. She wasn’t looking for submission, nor did she have the space to do damage with her punches.

The judges had the round 9-10, 10-9, 10-9 in favor of Dern.

Dern landed 12 of 25 significant strikes while going one-for-one in takedowns and gaining 2:36 of control time. Ribas landed 10 of 33 significant punches attempted.

UFC Vegas 101 Results: Dern vs. Ribas 2 – Round 2

The second round began similarly to the first, with both fighters attempting to land kicks. However, perhaps emboldened by her success in the first round, Dern scored a takedown less than 20 seconds into the round. Her attempt failed, Ribas took top position on the mat.

Although Dern was lying on her back, she cut her opponent’s head with her elbows from below very early in the round. Dern also looked for an opening to trap a limb from her back. Knowing Dern’s abilities on the ground, Ribas was careful not to expose herself to a submission to prevent her from doing much damage from the top position.

Midway through the round, Ribas became more active with her punches. She stayed close to Dern without putting her hands on the mat, which would have had a negative impact on Dern’s grappling game.

With a minute left in the second round, Dern found a small gap and attempted to secure a shoulder lock, which, while it didn’t come close to giving her a finish, did allow Dern to climb to the top and end the second stanza.

Since most of the round was played on the ground, there weren’t many significant hits, with Dern hitting three to three and Ribas three to six. Ribas was credited with a takedown and a control time of 3:31, while Dern had a control time of 0:19.

The judges went for Ribas 9-10, 10-9, 10-9 in the second round.

UFC Vegas 101 Results: Dern vs. Ribas 2 – Round 3

More kicks were thrown at the start of the third stanza, but this approach didn’t last long as Ribas quickly settled into an aggressive forward pressure boxing style. Ribas’ punching attempts allowed Dern to shoot for another takedown, but Ribas thwarted the attempt. However, Dern hung on to her opponent and forced the fight to the fence, where both fighters were active with tight knees. From this position, Ribas took the fight to the mat.

The takedown put Ribas in top position, but there was a fair amount of distance between Hier and Der in the first moments of the fight on the mat. Both women attempted to land with their elbows on the mat.

With just over two minutes left in the round, Dern found the time and space she needed to pursue an armbar. Dern lay patiently on his back. At the same time, Ribas tried to stack Dern, which prevented Dern from blocking the armbar.

With a minute left in the round, Der changed her position, releasing her armbar as she moved into the saddle. From this dominant position, Dern landed punches that gave her the opening she needed to secure an armbar, which she held on and forced Ribas to punch with four seconds left in the round.

The loss was the first submission setback of Ribas’ career and Dern’s first submission win since forcing Nina Nunes to tap in April 2021.

According to the third-round stats, Dern landed 12 of 18 significant strikes while gaining a control time of 1:39 with a failed takedown. Meanwhile, Ribas landed four of 17 significant punches, managed a takedown and had a control time of 2:16.

The win earned Dern a Performance of the Night bonus, her first such award since her win over Nunes.

UFC Vegas 101 results: Dern vs. Ribas 2 video highlights

UFC Vegas 101: Mackenzie Dern on her UFC Vegas 101 win over Amanda Ribas

After the event, Dern spoke to the media about her win and the potential of a title shot against the winner of the upcoming UFC 312 matchup between Zhang Weili and Tatiana Suarez.

“I think I’m very hard on myself and I’m always trying to get better,” Dern said. “Even when I put in a great performance, I think I did so many things wrong. It’s a lot of game going around in your head, so it can take up your dream and maybe make it a little longer, but in the end I think it will let you develop into the best fighter possible if you can really look back and have it constructive criticism of yourself.

“My goal is not to fight for the belt and then lose it quickly. My goal is to get the belt and I want to be a dominant champion. So I’m in no hurry to get there. I want to have good fights and make a statement.”

With the UFC Vegas 101 results in her favor, Dern should rise in the rankings. She entered the event as the No. 6 fighter in the official UFC strawweight rankings.