A Brazilian submission specialist Mackenzie Dern made headlines for the wrong reason as she failed to make weight for her scheduled bout against Amanda Cooper at UFC 224. Dern stepped onto the scale and was closer to the flyweight limit than strawweight which is the 116-pound. She came at whopping 123 pounds, seven pounds over the non-title limit for the weight class.
Her opponent Cooper tipped the scale at 116 lbs. Dern would be fined 30 percent of her show money which will go to Cooper and will also be exempt from winning any performance bonuses. Amanda Cooper agreed to fight which will go down at catchweight.
Check out MMA community reacts to Dern’s coming at 123 pounds:
Mackenzie Dern came in at 123 pounds – seven pounds north of the strawweight non-title limit – for her fight against Amanda Cooper at #UFC224. Cooper has not yet weighed in. Stay tuned … https://t.co/jx3nN335hR pic.twitter.com/Rh55FxbyF0
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 11, 2018
Mackenzie Dern didn't look happy at all as she stepped on the scale at 123.
— Fernanda Prates (@NandaPrates_) May 11, 2018
7lb!!! What the hell 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ this isn't the first time she's missed by so much. Maybe she should be fighting at 125 if she's consistently going to miss 🤷🏻♀️
I feel sorry for Amanda Cooper who was professional enough to make weight here. 7lb is fucking huge @ 115 https://t.co/zeYNv0I9MZ
— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) May 11, 2018
So much talent and potential, but the MMA work ethic just doesn't appear to be there yet. Hard not to feel badly for Amanda Cooper, who just wrapped the training camp of her life and now may not be able to compete. https://t.co/rVyiL1ljil
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) May 11, 2018
Ouchhhhhh https://t.co/trWB8e6r2a
— Chase Sherman (@ChaseShermanUFC) May 11, 2018
Wow. Eight pounds over. As a pro fighter, you have to make weight. #UFC224 https://t.co/oNG2s5JH2X
— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) May 11, 2018
Our sport, AC’s and promoters, need to really start to consider doing something about fighters coming overweight. A trend is building up where fighters don’t care enough & rather pay their fine, while increasing their odds to win by doing so. Unfair, unprofessional & dangerous!
— Eduardo Alonso (@eduardo_alonso) May 11, 2018
ABC, easy as 123 (lbs)
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) May 11, 2018
Savage but true. 🤣 https://t.co/5dwyLs43Db
— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) May 11, 2018
Gastelum, Lineker, and Dern on the same damn main card. This is genius.
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 11, 2018
Inside look at #UFC224 weigh ins. Cooper looks on as Dern comes in just a smidge over weight. pic.twitter.com/5QCY5ee7GX
— . (@ChasSkelly) May 11, 2018
Well, nobody can ever accuse Dern of not showing up big in big moments… https://t.co/iyc7bZmyY6
— Chuck Mindenhall (@ChuckMindenhall) May 11, 2018
All fighters should make weight. It’s part of your job. But it’s absolutely ridiculous that any percent of the fine goes to the commission and not ALL to the opponent. https://t.co/pxJKq13DWW
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) May 11, 2018
I blame @ABCnation115! She left cookies out. #UFC224
— Mike Jackson, Esq. (@TheTruthJackson) May 11, 2018
Mackenzie Dern is the 11th UFC fighter to miss weight so far in 2018. Reminder that previous fighters from that group are 5-0, while the other five didn't compete. #UFC224
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) May 11, 2018
Cristiano Sampaio, from CABMMA, told us that Amanda Cooper has accepted the fight with Mackenzie Dern. We don't know the final percentage of the fight purse yet.
— Fernanda Prates (@NandaPrates_) May 11, 2018
Cooper wasn’t pleased, however, calling her opponent a “disgrace” on Twitter:
This will be Dern’s second outing in UFC Octagon. The Brazilian grappler made weight for her first bout, where she earns a split-decision strawweight win over Ashley Yoder at UFC 222, but she missed weight in two fights under the Legacy banner back in October 2016 and March 2017.
Do you think with the botched weight cut, Dern will able to pick a win over Cooper?