Is Mackenzie Dern taking Virna Jandiroba lightly? The pair will face each other for the second time in their careers at UFC 321 to decide who will take Zhang Weili’s place as the new queen of the strawweight division. They met in the Octagon in December 2020 at UFC 256, where the American-Brazilian took home a decision win. But five years after that bout, fans are a little worried about whether Dern is actually focused on her first title shot.

At the UFC 321 media day, the 32-year-old sounded pretty locked in on her rematch. She said, “I mean, I’m super excited. Everything happened with Weili vacating and Virna being the number one contender. I think that win over Virna five years ago, that obviously I wasn’t training to fight for the belt back then. I was just trying to grow the ranks and getting into my own. Learn the whole sport. But that set me up to fight for the title now.”

Dern definitely seems to have developed a mindset where she knows her rematch with Jandiroba will go differently, as both have made considerable growth since their first fight in 2020. Still, the Arizona native believes she has a slight mental edge over her opponent because of her last win back in 2020. Continuing the UFC 314 media day interview, Dern added, “And to feel like we made it here, and then this is a great match-up for us. It’s someone that I beat before. Obviously, it could go any way, and it definitely gives you like, you know — it’s possible.”

Going by these statements, the American-Brazilian sounds pretty determined to take the gold in front of the Abu Dhabi audience. But her recent appearances in the UFC 321 Embedded videos have made fans think otherwise. In one of the videos, Dern and her teammate were seen drinking alongside a pool, which sparked some reactions from fans. And now, she’s facing more criticism after the Embedded series showed her getting her nails done.

Still, while Mackenzie Dern has been making headlines for apparently losing focus before the fight, not all reactions have been the same. Some fans have a very different opinion about her pre-fight routine being different from her opponent’s as well. So, without any further ado, let’s check what netizens have been saying.

Fans react to Mackenzie Dern getting her nails done before UFC 321 title shot   

One fan quickly chimed in and said, “No one was betting on her fine a— anyway,” implying that Dern would’ve lost even if she was focused, as the user firmly believes Jandiroba will be better this time. Following this reaction, another user had the same thing to say, “I don’t see Dern winning anyway.”

Although both of the previous fans ruled out any chances Mackenzie Dern had, another user at least presented a reason, saying, “Jandiroba was already a lock before this.” To this fan’s credit, Jandiroba is coming in on a hot streak of five wins, while Dern is 3-2 in as many fights. Still, while Dern has been getting some heat, not all reactions were against her.

Another fan brought up a very interesting point, “You think fighters train 12 hours a day or something? They get 2-4 workouts in during camp and that’s it,” which is sort of true! Although there are fighters who like to push hard training until the event, there are also fighters like Max Holloway and Paddy Pimblett who spend a lot of time gaming ahead of their important fights. So, these are just two different approaches that work for different individuals.

At last, another fan drew another intriguing parallel, writing, “Remember these morons saying the same thing before Chama man beat Ank? He went to a haunted house and made a YouTube video that meant he was going to get killed.” The user here brought back how Alex Pereira was also criticized for losing focus because he went to that haunted house ahead of UFC 320. Similarly, Dern has been facing the same criticism, which might be debunked come fight night. 

That said, as Mackenzie Dern has been getting some side eyes, do you think fighters should only train before a fight and do nothing else? Or does the other way work just fine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.