Mackenzie Dern News

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

Mackenzie Dern is now a mother. The UFC strawweight announced the birth of her first child, a girl, on Instagram on Monday.

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2019

Fan favorite UFC flyweight contender Mackenzie Dern won’t be fighting for awhile. Early on Friday morning, Dern shared the exciting news that she is pregnant. See her announcement below:

Tom Taylor - January 10, 2019

Mackenzie Dern will continue to compete as a strawweight. Despite her recent struggles to reach the strawweight division’s 116-pound cap, she and her team have decided to stick to this division for now, rather than move up to the flyweight division, which has a limit of 126 pounds for non title fights.

James Lynch - November 15, 2018

After a title shot was taken away from her, and her picking up a win at UFC 230, Sijara Eubanks has her sights set on another opponent. The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 finalist called out jiu-jitsu sensation Mackenzie Dern for a matchup. Found this old gem…Hey @MackenzieDern how bout we run it back with the 4oz gloves! Let’s see who the realest bjj black belt in mma is! @AliAbdelaziz00 @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 pic.twitter.com/jVVyBMp8PB

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

Mackenzie Dern improved her mixed martial arts record to a perfect 7-0 at last weekend’s UFC 224 event in Brazil, scoring a first-round submission victory (rear-naked choke) over Amanda Cooper. However, Dern’s victory over Cooper at UFC 224 was marred in controversy, this after Mackenzie had missed weight by a whopping seven pounds. Despite the jiu-jitsu ace having a significant size advantage, “ACB” decided to take the fight and by doing so also received 30 percent of Dern’s fight purse.

Tom Taylor - May 17, 2018

In the wake of the UFC 224, which went down last Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UFC has updated its official rankings. Given the way the UFC rankings seem to morph entirely arbitrarily from one week to the next, they are usually pretty controversial. The latest update to the rankings, however, was particularly controversial, as Mackenzie Dern usurped the number-15 spot in the strawweight rankings after her UFC 224 submission win over Amanda Bobby Cooper.

Tom Taylor - May 17, 2018

UFC 224, which went down in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last Saturday, caused a number of interesting changes to the official UFC rankings. The most interesting of these changes occurred in the strawweight division, where Mackenzie Dern entered the rankings at number 15, despite the fact that her UFC 224 submission win over Amanda Bobby Cooper was preceded by a seven-pound weigh-in miss. UFC 224 also caused a small shakeup at middleweight, where Kelvin Gastelum rose a spot after his split decision win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who dropped three spots. And then, of course, there are the customary, seemingly arbitrary changes to the UFC rankings, which do not seem to be governed by anything other than whim and randomness.

Tom Taylor - May 16, 2018

Last weekend, on the main card of UFC 224, BJJ star Mackenzie Dern stepped into the Octagon for the second time, taking on Amanda Bobby Cooper. Dern won this fight in emphatic fashion, dropping her foe with a huge punch in the first round, then sinking in a deep rear-naked choke for the win. Unfortunately, Dern’s win over Cooper comes with an asterisk attached, as she tipped the scales at 123 pounds, a significant seven pounds above the strawweight division’s 116-pound limit.

Drake Riggs - May 14, 2018

Prospect @MackenzieDern opens up about her failed weight cut at #UFC224, says she weighed 139 pounds the Tuesday before weigh-ins. Watch #TheMMAHour live: https://t.co/11sYrEm5Ug pic.twitter.com/ZtAuaH0E9l — MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) May 14, 2018

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2018

On Saturday night, on the main card of UFC 224, Mackenzie Dern picked up her second UFC win, submitting Amanda Bobby Cooper in the first round. At a glance, Dern’s win was incredibly impressive. As any one who followed the buildup to UFC 224 knows, however, the win was not without controversy.

Chris Taylor - May 13, 2018

Jiu-jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern (7-0 MMA) kept her perfect mixed martials arts record intact at last night’s UFC 224 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by scoring a first-round subsmission victory over Amanda Cooper. The victory showcased Mackenzie Dern’s ever evolving stand-up and of course her ridiculous submission skills, but the dominant win was likely overshadowed by the fact that Dern came in seven pounds over the 116-pound strawweight limit for the fight.

Chris Taylor - May 12, 2018

Jiu-jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern (6-0 MMA) will return to the octagon at tonight’s UFC 224 event in Brazil where she will square off with Amanda Cooper. The Dern vs. Cooper fight will take place at catchweight, this after Mackenzie badly missed the strawweight limit (116 pounds) by coming in at 123-pounds.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2018

Tomorrow night, the UFC will take over Rio de Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena with UFC 224. On Friday morning, the 26 fighters on the card’s 13-fight bill took to the scales to weigh in for their imminent battles. As always, the weigh-ins included a high dose of drama. This time, that drama came courtesy of grappling star Mackenzie Dern.

Tom Taylor - May 3, 2018

Back in March, on the undercard of UFC 222, BJJ star Mackenzie Dern made a successful UFC debut, defeating a tough Ashley Yoder by decision. Shortly after this first Octagon win, she was asked to leave her long-time gym, Arizona’s MMA Lab. “In relation with the Lab, after my last fight, Coach [John] Crouch, he just invited me to leave the team,” Dern said at a media luncheon promoting her UFC 224 fight with Amanda Bobby Cooper (transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting). “I think really we don’t have a 100-percent understanding. I think he knows his decisions more than me. I think with just the consistency, he wanted me to be there more often than what I was, but everything happens for a reason.”

Drake Riggs - March 26, 2018

Everybody loves to be the person who stops a so-called ‘hype train’. They’re those cases where one gets to prove that maybe they’re the ones who deserved some of the spotlights over those who were hogging it all up(whether by their choice or not). In this case, it’s fair to say that highly touted young prospect and BJJ wizard, Mackenzie Dern has herself a bit of a hype train rolling and she even admits it. So why wouldn’t her next opponent, Amanda Cooper be wanting to stop that?

Drake Riggs - March 14, 2018

The twenty-four-year-old undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom, Mackenzie Dern finally made her UFC debut earlier this month when she defeated Ashley Yoder at UFC 222 by split decision. With a UFC return to Brazil on the horizon, Dern made it very clear that she wanted to get on the card if possible. And that appears to be the case. MMABrasil reports that Dern’s sophomore appearance in the UFC will come against The Ultimate Fighter season 23 finalist, Amanda Cooper on May 12th.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2018

Last night, on the undercard of UFC 222, decorated BJJ player Mackenzie Dern made her anticipated Octagon debut opposite the game Ashley Yoder. Despite a few moments of adversity, the increasingly popular Dern was able to do enough to capture a unanimous decision victory and secure her first Octagon win.

Chris Taylor - March 3, 2018

UFC 222 Results: Mackenzie Dern defeats Ashley Yoder A women’s strawweight fight between Mackenzie Dern and Ashley Yoder served as the featured bout of tonight’s UFC 222 prelims in Las Vegas.