The UFC returned for the first event of the new year on Saturday from Las Vegas, NV.
The card was headlined by a rematch between Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Ribas. After getting fairly dominated in rounds one and two, Dern came back to submit Ribas in the third with a bruatl armbar. Dern becomes the first to submit Ribas in the UFC.
"I'm happy, I wanted to get my submission record higher," Dern said. "From five years ago, to get this win was kind of heavy on me."
After the win, Dern didn't call anyone out but said she'd like someone in front of her.
Their first meeting took place on Oct. 12, 2019 and ended in a unanimous decision win for Ribas. Dern was hoping to make good on the loss by taking on the rising star now that both are ranked in the top 10 of their division and she did just that.
In the co-main event, welterweights Santiago Ponzinibbio and Carlston Harris met with Ponzinibbio earning a highlight reel win to start off 2025 right. There was some controversy in the Roman Kopylov and Chris Curtis fight after the referee called off the fight with just one second remaining when Kopylov landed a head kick that dropped Curtis. Some felt that Curtis was fine to continue and would have won the fight, but after the scorecards were revealed it was clear that might not have been the case.