Mackenzie Dern

USA

Gets revenge on Amanda Ribas
StrawweightUFC
January 11, 2025
Dern defeated Amanda Ribas via submission (armbar) at 4:56 of Round 3 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Dern gets revenge on Ribas, who won the first fight between the two back in October 2019 via unanimous decision. Mackenzie's striking isn't a strength and she's not a good wrestler, but she's as talented as any female fighter on the roster in terms of her ground game, and it showed here. Both women had their moments in the bout, but Dern's ability to outmuscle Ribas on the mat and eventually work for the armbar ended up being the difference. No slouch herself on the mat, it was the first submission defeat for the Brazilian. Set to turn 32 years of age in late-March, Dern has now won back-to-back fights. Even with those two victories, she's still just 4-4 in her past eight bouts dating back to October 2021. It's likely more inconsistency will be on the way shortly. In the meantime, she'll take home an extra $50,000 as one of two Performance of the Night recipients.
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Fighting in December
StrawweightUFC
August 19, 2024
Dern will take on Amanda Ribas in a flyweight matchup at UFC Vegas 101 on Jan. 11, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Dern will look for her second win of 2024 after besting Lupita Godinez via unanimous decision earlier in August. The American strawweight will take on Ribas for the second time in her career, with the first fight ending in a unanimous decision victory for Ribas back in 2019.
Snaps brief losing streak
StrawweightUFC
August 3, 2024
Dern defeated Lupita Godinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
ANALYSIS
Dern has had trouble in these close bouts throughout her career, so it was nice to see her get over the hump here against Godinez. Neither woman was able to gain much separation throughout the course of the fight. Mackenzie's opening round was the best of the three. She landed a takedown, racked up some control time, and finished the frame with a 49-17 edge in total strikes landed. Godinez got the bout even in Round 2 before Dern pushed the pace early in Round 3, landing another takedown and eventually doing just enough to earn the decision. Dern is now 31 years old and has proven capable of a quality performance here and there, but her 3-4 mark in her past seven fights dating back to October 2021 suggests she still isn't among the division's elite at this stage of her career.
Godinez up next
StrawweightUFC
May 29, 2024
Dern is scheduled to compete against strawweight Lupita Godinez at UFC Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3, per Dana White's announcement Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
Most recently, Dern took a relatively short-notice fight against Amanda Lemos and lost via unanimous decision at UFC 298. The former will look to bounce back by defeating Godinez, recently coming off a loss to Virna Jandiroba but ranked No. 10 in the UFC's strawweight rankings after earning four consecutive wins before said defeat.
Shows toughness in close loss
StrawweightUFC
February 17, 2024
Dern lost to Amanda Lemos via unanimous decision (28-29, 28-29, 28-29) at UFC 298 on Saturday in Anaheim.
ANALYSIS
Dern is going to receive plenty of praise despite the defeat and rightfully so. She nearly came storming back to upset Lemos despite fighting essentially the entire bout on one leg and appearing for all the world to be finished in Round 2. Yet, Mackenzie continued to battle, going as far to knock down her opponent in Round 3 and threaten multiple submission attempts. Dern's striking remains a work in progress. She's reckless at times and overly aggressive, and high-level strikers such as Lemos will make her pay for those mistakes all day long. Dern appeared to be making progress with four straight wins from May 2020 to April 2021, but she's sporting just a 1-3 record in her past four bouts. Set to turn 31 years of age shortly, the odds are against Dern putting it all together. On the bright side, she'll walk away with a $50,000 bonus after this bout was awarded Fight of the Night honors.
Steps in for Suarez
StrawweightUFC
January 16, 2024
Dern will fight Amanda Lemos at UFC 298 on Feb. 17, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Dern will have a month to prepare for the fight after Tatiana Suarez (undisclosed) withdrew from the event Tuesday. Dern dropped her most recent fight to Jessica Andrade in November and will be at a two-inch reach disadvantage against Lemos.