At the end of five rounds, Yan Xiaonan proved she could fend off Mackenzie Dern’s relentless grappling attack and do enough to convince two of three judges she was the victor in UFC Vegas 61’s main event.
Xiaonan was able to survive a tense fifth round, where she found herself in serious trouble while Mackenzie Dern searched for submissions at the top of UFC APEX in Las Vegas. That last-second surge produced just one 10-8 score from judges while the other two awarded Xiaonan the 10-9, according to official scorecards released by the UFC after the event.
Veteran judges Junichiro Kamijo, Sal D’Amato and Mike Bell scored the five-round fight. Below is the official scorecard.
#UFCVegas61 Official Scorecard: Mackenzie Dern vs Yan Xiaonan
All #UFCVegas61 Scorecards : https://t.co/EYZXeTb1PL pic.twitter.com/W5YBlKWwR6
— UFC News (@UFCNews) October 2, 2022
Kamijo, D’Amato and Bell agreed on every round besides the fifth, awarding Xiaonan Rounds 1, 3 and 4 by a 10-9 margin while Dern took Rounds 2 and 5. Were it not for Bell’s 10-8, the fight would have been unanimously scored for Xiaonan by a tally of 48-47. But the 10-8 for Dern resulted in a draw on Bell’s card, resulting in a majority decision.
Xiaonan snapped a two-fight skid on Saturday while Dern has gone 2-2 in her past four outings.
UFC Vegas 61 aired live on ESPN+.
