On Monday's edition of “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani, Dern revealed that she has signed a contract with Invicta Fighting Championships. Terms and length of the deal were not disclosed.
The 24-year-old Dern will make her promotional debut on Dec. 8 at Invicta 26 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Mo., taking on former Invicta strawweight title challenger Kaline Medeiros in a 115-pound contest.
The daughter of Royler Gracie Jiu-Jitsu standout “Megaton” Wellington Dias, Dern followed in her father's footsteps, becoming an even more achieved competitor at the world gi and no-gi level, with a pair of Braziian jiu-jitsu world titles and winning the under 132-pound women's division at the 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship.
Dern has gone 4-0 since her pro MMA debut just under 16 months ago, with all four bouts coming under the now-merged Legacy Fighting Championship and Legacy Fighting Alliance banner. The Medeiros bout will mark Dern's return to the strawweight division; after making a successful pro debut against Kenia Rosas, the Arizona native missed the 115-pound limit in consecutive contests. In her last bout on Oct. 13, Dern choked out Mandy Polk in under three minutes in a flyweight contest.
Meideros, 38, has put together five consecutive victories and earned herself a title shot at then-Invicta straweight title holder Angela Hill at Invicta 20 last November. The Massachusetts-based Brazilian was dominated by “Angie Overkill,” soundly dropping a 25-minute unanimous decision.