UFC Is Closing It’s Doors to the Public & Media for Saturday Night’s Event

UFC Fight Night 211 takes place on Saturday night and the promotion announced on Monday that the event will be closed to the public and media.

The night’s card is headlined by a women’s strawweight affair between No. 5-ranked fighter Mackenzie Dern and No. 6 Xiaonan Yan. It’ll take place at the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1st.

Although the Apex Center is a small facility, fans and media have been welcomed inside the venue ever since pandemic restrictions were lifted. Well, that won’t be the case this weekend.

“UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan taking place at the Apex on October 1st will be closed to the public and media,” the UFC confirmed in a statement. Media are invited to the venue on Wednesday to interview the event’s fighters, as well as on Friday to witness the official weigh-in ceremony.

At the time of this writing, the UFC hasn’t revealed why it’s closing its doors. More details may be reported as the week goes on, however the reasoning remains cryptic.

MMA Mania’s Drake Riggs commented on the closure, tweeting: “They better have a good reason for this because that’s an exposure blow to all the winners who now won’t get post-fights scrums.”

FanSided’s Amy Kaplan responded to Riggs, writing: “This is my BIG concern. These fighters deserve that.”

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Dern vs. Yan Is a Pivotal 115-Pound Contest

Fans will still be able to watch UFC Fight Night 211 on ESPN+ on Saturday. And in the main event, they’ll witness a pivotal 115-pound match featuring Dern and Yan. Dern is riding the momentum of her high-profile split-decision victory over Tecia Torres in April at UFC 273. She’s 5-1 in her last six contests and if she can beat Yan on Saturday, she’ll move closer toward a shot at gold.

Yan has dropped her last two fights, losing to Marina Rodriguez via split decision and Carla Esparza by second-round TKO. If Yan wants to solidify her place at the top of strawweight, she’ll need to get past the elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner.

Before the strawweights go to battle, longtime UFC competitor Francisco Trinaldo will look to earn his third consecutive win in the promotion’s 170-pound division. Trinaldo last fought in May at UFC 274 when he earned his 18th victory in the promotion by decisioning Danny Roberts.

The 44-year-old Brazilian will meet Randy Brown, who is also enjoying a victory streak. “Rude Boy” last stepped into the cage the same night as Trinaldo and picked up a split decision over Khaos Williams, his third win in a row.

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UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan Fight Card

You can check out the full fight card below:

Main Card

Women’s strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Xiaonan Yan
Welterweight: Francisco Trinaldo vs. Randy Brown
Bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos vs. Trevin Jones
Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff vs. Don Shainis
Bantamweight: John Castañeda vs. Daniel Santos
Lightweight: Mike Davis vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

Preliminary Card

Heavyweight: Alexey Oleynik vs. Ilir Latifi
Women’s strawweight: Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
Lightweight: Joaquim Silva vs. Jesse Ronson
Middleweight: Krzysztof Jotko vs. Brendan Allen
Light Heavyweight: Maxim Grishin vs. Philipe Lins
140-Pound Catchweight: Julija Stoliarenko vs. Chelsea Chandler
Bantamweight: Guido Cannetti vs. Randy Costa

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