UFC Returns With Mackenzie Dern Taking On Yan Xiaonan

Strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan meet this weekend as the UFC returns.

Dern and Xiaonan collide from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on ESPN+. The co-main event will see Randy Brown take on Francisco Trinaldo.

Fan favorite Dern (12-2, fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif.) returns to the Octagon to continue her impressive climb up the 115-pound rankings. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has secured impressive wins against Tecia Torres, Nina Nunes, and Randa Markos.

Yan (13-3, fighting out of Beijing, China) looks to steal the show by adding another notable name to her resume. Proven to be a dangerous striker, she has secured victories over Cláudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Angela Hill.

Due to injuries to both athletes, the bantamweight bout between Cody Garbrandt and Rani Yahya has been removed from the card.

Brown (15-4, fighting out of Queens, N.Y.) will be looking to put together a win streak as he collides with Trinaldo (28-8, fighting out of Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil) in a welterweight showdown.

Additional bouts on the card include:

* Maxim Grishin (32-9-2, fighting out of Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russia) squares off with Philipe Lins (15-5, fighting out of Warsaw, Poland) at light heavyweight

* Middleweights battle, as Krzysztof Jotko (24-5, fighting out of Orneta, Poland) meets Brendan Allen (19-5, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.)

* A thrilling featherweight bout will see Sodiq Yusuff (12-2, fighting out of Bladensburg, Md.) face newcomer Don Shainis (12-3, fighting out of Easton, Mass.)

* Raoni Barcelos (16-3, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) clashes with Trevin Jones (13-8, fighting out of Maite, Guam) at bantamweight

* Heavyweights collide as Ilir Latifi (16-8-1, fighting out of Malmo, Sweden) meets grappling specialist Aleksei Oleinik (60-16-1, fighting out of Moscow, Russia)

* Jessica Penne (14-7, fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif.) takes on Tabatha Ricci (7-1, fighting out of Ventura, Calif.) at strawweight

* An exciting lightweight matchup pits Mike Davis (9-2, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) against Dana White’s Contender Series signee Viacheslav Borshchev (6-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.)

* John Castaneda (19-5, fighting out of Minneapolis, Minn.) battles Daniel Santos (10-2, fighting out of Uberlandia, Brazil) at bantamweight

* Lightweights face off as Joaquim Silva (11-4, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) meets Jesse Ronson (21-11, London, Ontario, Canada)

* Julija Stoliarenko (10-7-1, fighting out of Kaunas, Lithuania) and Octagon newcomer Chelsea Chandler (4-1, fighting out of Stockton, Calif.) are set to compete in a 140-pound catchweight bout

* An exciting bantamweight bout sees Guido Cannetti (9-7, fighting out of San Antonio de Padua, Buenos Aires, Argentina) face off against Randy Costa (6-3, fighting out of Taunton, Mass.)