Mackenzie Dern has just stepped in on short notice to replace Tatiana Suarez in an exciting strawweight fight against Amanda Lemos at UFC 298 on February 17th, 2024. Dern has accepted the fight on around a month’s notice and although stepping in as a replacement is always a challenge, this is particularly difficult given that Dern last fought just two months ago. It’s surprising to see her jumping back into action so quickly as well, because she’s coming off the first knockout loss of her career at the hands of Jessica Andrade.
Of course, fighters are regularly offered larger purses as compensation for saving fights and some times the opportunities are just too great for a fighter to turn down. In Dern’s case, she’s undoubtedly going to be eager to bounce back from that loss and get back into the win column as soon as she can. Accepting this fight against Lemos not only gives her the chance to do that but it also has the potential to be a way for her to break through to the top 5 of the UFC strawweight division as well.
Mackenzie Dern is sitting in 8th after losing her last fight, whereas Amanda Lemos is ranked fourth and coming off a loss in her title-shot against reigning champion Zhang Weili. A win here would put Dern back into the running again and if she can get another win over a top contender afterward then a title-shot might be within reach. Lemos is sitting in a similar position though and will need a few wins to earn a second shot at Weili, so expect both women to put it all on the line at UFC 298.
The UFC announced the news that Mackenzie Dern was stepping in to replace Tatiana Suarez against Amanda Lemos in a post to their official Brazilian Instagram account:
