A women’s strawweight headliner between Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez is taking place now (Saturday, October 9, 2021) at UFC Vegas 39 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Round 1
Dern misses a telegraphed leg kick. Rodriguez throws a couple of front kicks. Rodriguez is the one being more active as Dern is yet to land a strike. Rodriguez connects with a leg kick. Dern blitzes and connects with a right. She clinches Rodriguez against the fence. Dern looks for the takedown but Rodriguez has her arm in an uncomfortable position to prevent it. They eventually separate. Rodriguez continues to be active. Dern lands a nice check left hook. Rodriguez ends the round strong.
Round 2
Dern advances forward and clinches Rodriguez up against the cage again. Rodriguez does well to defend and separate. Dern lands a right and the fight eventually goes to the ground with her on top. Dern is in side control but is struggling to advance as Rodriguez threatens with a choke which she doesn’t have. Dern has Rodriguez’s arms trapped and threatens with strikes. Rodriguez scrambles around but Dern still remains in control. Dern gets both hooks in as she takes Rodriguez’s back. She moves to full mount and starts landing ground and pound. Rodriguez is just about surviving and manages to last. That’s a 10-8 round if anything.
Round 3
Rodriguez starts to to put the pressure early on but isn’t landing much. Rodriguez starts to land soon after. She seems to be recovering while Dern is fading somewhat. The action slows down for a bit before Dern blitzes forward. She fails to land anything. Rodriguez lands a body shot. Rodriguez is throwing more. Dern shoots but settles for clinching Rodriguez against the cage. She goes for the single leg but Rodriguez defends and lands big shots to her head to end the round.
Round 4
Dern is advancing early. Fight is momentarily stopped after an inadvertent groin strike on Dern. The fight resumes. Rodriguez remains in control with the striking. She is mixing things up while Dern continues to miss. Rodriguez lands a couple of leg kicks and connects with a big knee to the belly. Rodriguez connects plenty with a flurry! This fight is slowly getting away from Dern. Rodriguez lands big but Dern manages to take her down and get to mount instantly with just over 30 seconds remaining! Dern rains down ground and pound but Rodriguez survives. This has been a great fight.
Round 5
Dern is advancing forward looking to get the takedown. Rodriguez has done well to defend and land throughout this round. She is starting take over as she lands a right hand. Dern clinches Rodriguez up against the fence. She has to do something significant here to win the final round. Just over 30 seconds remaining but Dern doesn’t look like she’ll get a takedown. They separate as Rodriguez looks to end the fight strong. She does just that. That was a war.
Official result: Marina Rodriguez defeats Mackenzie Dern via unaimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46).
Check out the highlights below:
The battle of top strawweights happens NOW 👊
[ #UFCVegas39 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Gmn9tokr96
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
Rodriguez finding her range here in the third 👊
[ #UFCVegas39 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/NiLTEhW33B
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
The main event goes the full 25 minutes. How do you have it scored? 📝
[ #UFCVegas39 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/OiwCzOWuPF
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
2️⃣ UFC main events, 2️⃣ victories for @WMMARZ 🇧🇷 #UFCVegas39 pic.twitter.com/0sbYVtkubh
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
