ABU DHABI — American Mackenzie Dern, ranked seventh among UFC strawweight contenders, won a unanimous decision over Canadian Lupita (Loopy) Godinez, ranked 10th, on Saturday on a UFC Fight Night card.
All three judges scored it 29-28 for Dern, who had lost her two previous fights and three of the last four.
"It feels amazing … Lupita's a tough fighter," said Dern.
In the main event at Etihad Arena in Yas Island, Russian Umar Nurmagomedov won a unanimous (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) decision over American Cory (Sandman) Sandhagen in a bantamweight title eliminator.
Sandhaven (17-5-0) came into the fight ranked second among 135-pound contenders while Nurmagomedov (18-0-0) was No. 10.
"He beat me tonight. There's nothing more I can say about it," said Sanhagen. "Congrats to him. He's a very very very good fighter I'll see him again. He's going to fight for the belt next. He'll probably win. And then I'll catch up to him and fight him again."
The current bantamweight title-holder is American (Suga) Sean O'Malley.
Combat sports run in the Godinez family.
Younger sister Ana Godinez is a member of Canada's wrestling team at the Paris Olympics and is slated to begin competition in the 62-kilogram freestyle division on Aug. 8. Another sister, Karla Godinez, was a bronze medallist at the 2022 world wrestling championships.
Loopy Godinez, the top-ranked Canadian among UFC fighters, was coming off a decision loss to Brazil's Virna Jandiroba in March that snapped a four-fight win streak.
At five foot four, the 31-year-old Dern had a two-inch advantage in both height and reach over the 30-year-old Godinez.
Dern, an accomplished grappler, took Godinez down with a trip with less than two minutes left in the first round, landing in the mount position. Godinez (12-5-0) survived an armbar attempt, taking punches in the face from Dern as she defended the submission.
The two opened the second round on their feet, exchanging blows. Godinez took Dern (14-5-0) down late in the round and the two were tangled in a clinch at the fence as the round ended. All three judges gave Godinez the nod in the round.
Dern landed another takedown in the third, looking unsuccessfully for a submission.
UFC Stats gave Dern a 72-67 edge in significant strikes over the three rounds. She landed two of five takedown attempts compared to two of three for Godinez.
"I did a lot of boxing for a jiu-jitsu girl," said Dern, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who is a multiple IBJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) world champion.
Godinez holds her fight camps at UFC flyweight champion Alexa Grasso's Lobo Gym in Guadalajara.
Godinez was 14 when the family left Mexico for Vancouver. Her father's car business had received threats from a drug cartel so he decided to move the family to safety, telling the kids they were going to Disneyland on vacation.
Having started in judo in Mexico, Godinez returned to the sport in Canada. That led her to jiu-jitsu and eventually mixed martial arts.
In 2023, she became the first woman to win four UFC fights in a calendar year when she beat Cynthia Calvillo (April 8), Emily Ducotte (May 20), Elise Reed (Sept. 16) and Tabatha (Baby Shark) Ricci (Nov. 11).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024
The Canadian Press