Mackenzie Dern Explains Why Missing Weight Is A Problem Of The Past

Mackenzie Dern Explains How Having A Child And Training In Quarantine Has Helped Her Get Weight Problems Under Control

Mackenzie Dern
Photo via Instagram @mackenziedern

During the early part of her career, Mackenzie Dern had some struggles on the scale. Following her latest win, she explains why this is no longer an issue for her.

There was a lot of hype around Dern when she first joined the UFC ranks, simply due to her world class Jiu-Jitsu skills. The BJJ black belt signed to the promotion early in her career, and has only suffered one loss inside the Octagon. However her biggest struggles have clearly been with the scale, missing weight in three of her pro fights, with the one instance in the UFC being by a whopping 7lb.

Mackenzie Dern Says Weight Struggles Are Over

Prior to her most recent performance, a quick first round win over Randa Markos, Mackenzie Dern seemed to have no issues making the 115lb strawweight limit. Speaking with SirusXM after the fight, she explained that this should be the norm for her moving forward. She revealed that when she would try the traditional weight cut method of a large water cut, she would balloon back up in weight afterwards.

“I’ve had my past of bad weight cuts, that I haven’t made weight. Before this fight (with Markos) I had a third of my fights where I didn’t make weight,” Derm said. “I had nine fights, and three of them I didn’t make weight. So now I’m able to pass that and be at 10 fights and making weight, so I’m glad I was able to focus and get a better idea on what I need to do to make weight easier. 

“My first MMA fights I was doing that whole water cut, with the sauna, where you lose like 10 pounds or whatever two days before,” Dern explained. “Every single time I would lose weight, I would blow up after. It’s almost like I would blow up and get a couple more pounds each time. I’d be heavier than when I started my weight cut before each fight. Each time would be harder and harder to cut weight, like my body would just be holding on to it.”

From here, Dern explained that there were also some changes that she made in her lifestyle, that has helped her overcome these issues. Apparently having a child and training during a pandemic has helped to teach her discipline, which will allow her to keep her weight low in between fights.

“Also, my lifestyle before,” Dern continued. “I’d finish a fight, then go party and go travel. It’s like, I was this girl living this fighter’s life. Hey, my Jiu-Jitsu was working until then. I felt focused at the time, because when I had a camp I would start training. But that’s hard to be start training 100% and be relaxed in between. You need to be consistent. ‘Oh you don’t have a fight set up? Let’s keep training.’

“I was really able to do that after my daughter was born,” Makenzie Dern said. “You’re way more focused. It’s like me, I can just eat ramen noodles if anything gets bad with money. But now I have a family to take care of, and I want to be able to provide a good comfortable life for her. Now it’s like I really need to focus down, and the more I was training, the more I started to see the results. I didn’t have a fight scheduled and I was still training because of the corona. So I was in the gym with nothing else to do but train.

“My weight is doing good, I’m feeling stronger,” Dern concluded. “Results are happening in training, like I’m seeing differences from one week to the next. So I’m more focused on really becoming a true martial artist, and professional fighter. Training all year round, with a fight or without a fight. Now I see the difference, like this is what it means to be focused and have good weight cuts.”

One of the biggest complaints about Mackenzie Dern over her MMA career so far, has been her lack of discipline. Hopefully this new approach and focus will help propel her to the next level.

Published on September 23, 2020 at 9:38 am
Stay up-to-date with the latest MMA news, rumors, and updates by following the RED Monster on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, don't forget to add MiddleEasy to your Google News feed Follow us on Google News for even more coverage.

Related

Leave a Comment