Jiu-jitsu world champion and emerging MMA fighter Mackenzie Dern will compete in front of a hometown crowd in the headline match of submission-only jiu-jitsu event Fight To Win Pro 12. 

The all-female black belt lightweight title fight, scheduled for Sep. 17, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, will feature a clash between champ Dern and rising talent Talita Alencar of Brazil. 

Dern will be the hometown favorite for the event. The Phoenix resident trains jiu-jitsu and MMA in the city where she was raised, and will surely bring plenty of supporters. 

One of Dern's MMA training partners is former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who will also compete on the event in a no-gi match against Jay Pages. 

"She'll be bigger than Ronda Rousey"

Recently, Henderson compared Dern to former UFC champion Ronda Rousey, and said she'll be "bigger than Rousey before she lost."

"She's going to be huge. She's going to be big. She has an excellent work ethic," Henderson said on the MMA Hour. "She's an amazing athlete. She definitely needs to work on her MMA skills, but her ground game is phenomenal. Any woman on the planet that goes to the ground with Mackenzie, Mackenzie is going to tap her, or dominate her like she did her first opponent." 

I think her working her butt off, staying grounded in the MMA world, getting better, growing... she's super young; she's going to be a big, huge star. In 10 years, you'll see her in movies and stuff, and she's going to do great. She's going to be awesome.

A Rising Star From Brazil

Dean's opponent at Fight To Win Pro 12 will be Talita Alencar of Brazil. Hailing from Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil, she was awarded her black belt in June after winning Worlds as a brown belt. 

An aggressive and go-forward competitor, Alencar has faced Dern once before. They met in the combined black-brown belt division off the Abu Dhabi World Pro earlier this year, with Dern narrowly winning by advantages. 

Related posts: 
• Meet The Brand New Wave of Black Belt Women Competitors From Brazil
• GF Team Jiu-Jitsu Training Highlight Video

Watch Mackenzie Dern vs. Talita Alencar from 2016 World Pro here:

Click here for the full fight card and details on how to watch Fight to Win Pro 12.