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.
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.
“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.”
