Chael Sonnen didn’t hold back in his recent criticism of UFC strawweight Mackenzie Dern. Following her win over Amanda Ribas at UFC Fight Night 249, which saw Dern secure her second consecutive victory with a submission in the third round, Sonnen was quick to point out that she’s missed several opportunities to push her career forward.
Despite her impressive jiu-jitsu background and the momentum she gained from the win, Sonnen thinks Dern isn’t capitalizing on her rise in popularity. He believes that after her win over Ribas, she should have been more vocal and called for a title shot. Instead, Dern has maintained a laid-back approach, which Sonnen doesn’t believe is the right way to stand out in the competitive world of MMA.
REDEMPTION FOR @MACKENZIEDERN‼️#UFCVegas101 pic.twitter.com/Xz1ltijf9w
— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2025
Lack of Self-Promotion and Missed Opportunities
“I could not go back over Mackenzie’s career and hand her one compliment on anything she’s done from an entertainment aspect,” Sonnen said during an appearance on the “Good Guy/Bad Guy” podcast. “I couldn’t tell you one time she had a microphone in her hand and turned it into a pipe bomb. I could not tell you one opportunity that she pushed everybody else aside and came and got it for herself.”
Sonnen also reflected on a pivotal moment in Dern’s early career when he tried to get her to step into the spotlight before her UFC debut. Back then, Sonnen attempted to arrange a grappling match between Dern and Miesha Tate, a former UFC champion who was a major name in the sport at the time. However, Dern turned down the offer, opting to focus on her MMA career instead.
“Before she made her UFC debut, a guy named Chael Sonnen called her to do a pure grappling match against Miesha Tate,” Sonnen recalled. “There was no amount of money to get Mackenzie on the airplane to do the match. Her reasoning? She wants to focus on MMA. I’m trying to explain to her that if you want to break into MMA, this is Miesha Tate, come get your money, and she never did it.”
In Sonnen’s view, this missed opportunity is emblematic of a larger issue—Dern’s lack of awareness about the business of MMA. While he acknowledges that Dern seems to care deeply about the sport, he doesn’t believe she fully understands the importance of self-promotion and capitalizing on key moments.
“She looks like she does really care about this sport. She talks about some of her hardships and things outside the ring which do compel you very much to her,” Sonnen noted. “But as far as understanding what makes dollars has got to make sense, she doesn’t know what any of those words mean.”
Sonnen’s Surprising Critique: A Second-Generation Athlete’s Blind Spot
Sonnen also expressed his surprise at how unaware Dern seems to be of the business side of MMA, especially considering her background.
“I’ve never seen a second-generation athlete so unaware of the sport that’s going on around them,” he said.
With Sonnen’s blunt assessment, the question remains: will Mackenzie Dern take the advice of one of MMA’s most outspoken figures and learn how to better market herself, or will her career continue to be shaped by a more passive approach? For now, Sonnen’s comments stand as a sharp reminder of how important it is to balance athletic ability with the right kind of self-promotion in today’s UFC.