Mackenzie Dern says she’s still dealing with the aftermath of her divorce ahead of UFC 295: “Literally this whole fight is still paying me ex”

Mackenzie Dern is still dealing with the aftermath of her divorce ahead of her UFC 295 fight against Jessica Andrade.

Dern revealed she got a divorce ahead of her last fight against Angela Hill, which she won by decision back in May. It was a dominant performance, but Dern admitted there were a lot of mental struggles ahead of the fight.

Now, months later, as she’s set to face Andrade on the main card of UFC 295 from Madison Square Garden, Mackenzie Dern says she’s still dealing with the aftermath as most of the money she makes from this fight goes to paying her ex-husband.

“No. I realized we always have problems. Just the pressure. The last one I went through the divorce. The divorce is final but you don’t realize how much aftermath there is to it. Literally, this whole fight is still paying my ex,” Mackenzie Dern said at UFC 295 media day. “It’s crazy, I have to get punched in the face and you work so hard and you do all this and you have to like pay that much for something. Money’s something, I’ll fight here, I’ll get it, whatever. Winning or losing, everything’s going to be taken care of. I’ll make more and stuff like that but it’s just problems. Team, you know, RVCA closed so I basically made my own home gym.

“You just keep investing in your dream and hope that it works. I’m trying to make everything private at home because you’re just very vulnerable when everyone’s seeing your training,” Dern continued. “I’m a world champion in jiu-jitsu but people see me in the gym and I’m like crying, I’m frustrated because I feel I should be better at something. I feel like I should be able to get it and I don’t get it. It’s not working. There’s injuries and there’s a ton of stuff that keeps going on and you’re like I just want to be able to train and get better. I don’t know. In the fight it comes out. It all works out.”

Mackenzie Dern enters her UFC 295 fight against Jessica Andrade with a 13-3 record and is 2-2 in her last four. She’s also ranked seventh at strawweight.