UFC strawweight Mackenzie Dern has been skyrocketing up the rankings with her perfect 7-0 record. The submission specialist tore through Amanda Bobby Cooper at UFC 224 last weekend, uncorking a massive overhand right before submitting her in the first round.
But for all of Dern’s achievements, there’s been setbacks as well. The Brazilian-American has missed weight three times in her professional MMA career, most recently coming in seven pounds over the strawweight limit against Cooper.
However, Dern vows to never miss weight again as she continues her ascent up the strawweight ladder:
“I can guarantee [that I won’t miss weight again]… I want to stay at strawweight. Hopefully, with the help of UFC Performance Institute it will be a lot easier and it will all be under control. If they told me, ‘It’s not good for you to fight at 115’, then I would go to 125. I’ve made 115 before, three times, so I think it’s a better weight for me.”
At the same time, Dern revealed the difficulty in making 115 pounds, explained her weight-cutting process leading into UFC 224:
“As soon as I arrived the UFC weighed us and I was 138 and she was 134 or 135, so as soon as I saw that it thought, ‘She’s almost my size’. I knew my right punch was strong from the times I hit hear, but I didn’t feel so much heavier or something. I wasn’t thinking about the weight anymore.”
Will Mackenzie Dern make good on her promise to never miss weight again?
