Mackenzie Dern replaces injured Tatiana Suarez, takes on Amanda Lemos at UFC 298

With the injury bug biting Tatiana Suarez once again, Mackenzie Dern will take her place to fight Amanda Lemos at UFC 298.

Although the UFC has yet to make an announcement, Lemos vs. Dern is listed on the promotion’s official press portal for UFC 298 on Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The news was first reported by The Orange County Register.

Suarez (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) returned in 2023 after a four-year layoff due to injuries. She picked up two submission wins lasy year, one in February against Montana De La Rosa and the other in August against Jessica Andrade. She’s regarded by many as the biggest threat to the strawweight title, but injuries unfortunately have kept her from fighting for the belt.

Dern (13-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), replacing Suarez, is looking to bounce back from her first career stoppage loss. Dern suffered a TKO defeat to Andrade back in November at UFC 295. She’s 2-2 in her past four outings.

Lemos (13-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC) hasn’t competed since her title-fight loss to champ Zhang Weili this past August at UFC 292. Lemos lost by unanimous decision to snap a two-fight winning streak against Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Marina Rodriguez.

Below is the updated UFC 298 lineup:

• Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria
• Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker
• Ian Garry vs. Geoff Neal
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Lemos
• Ikram Aliskerov vs. Anthony Hernandez
• Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick
• Marcos Rogerio vs. Justin Tafa
• Rinya Nakamura vs. opponent TBA
• Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn
• Danny Barlow vs. Yusaku Kinoshita
• AJ Dobson vs. Tresean Gore

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.