Mackenzie Dern arrived in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 13, a full 12 days before the biggest fight of her life.

And who can blame her? There’s something to be said for getting acclimated to her new environs. And there just might also be something about the capital of the United Arab Emirates that works well for Dern.

Ten years after stunning the combat sports world, the Huntington Beach strawweight returns in a full-circle moment of her fighting career to challenge Virna Jandiroba for the vacant 115-pound championship at UFC 321 on Saturday.

“I couldn’t pick a better place than to be here in Abu Dhabi fighting for the belt,” Dern, 32, said of her five-round co-main event in an exclusive Zoom interview last week.

In 2015 at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Abu Dhabi, Dern overcame an 0-4 record

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