Mackenzie Dern doesn’t feel she needs to beat Zhang Weili to cement championship status after UFC 330

Mackenzie Dern isn’t just a UFC champion, she’s now officially defended that title as well.

Saturday’s UFC 330 co-main event saw Dern earn a one-sided decision win over Gillian Robertson to successfully defend the strawweight belt she won in a vacant title fight by defeating Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 this past October. That title was vacated by Zhang Weili, who dominated the 115-pound division before moving up a weight class in a failed bid to dethrone flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether Zhang is planning to return at 115 or 125 pounds, if at all. So does Dern feel like that matchup has to happen for her t