Issue 151
February 2017
Everyone at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona, told Mackenzie Dern she should try MMA. Her BJJ talents had been honed since she was three and she’d won more medals than you could count on both hands – just like her dad. No strawweight could match her on the ground.
She hesitated at first, but by 2016 she’d done it all in a gi. It was time to put on 4oz gloves.
She explains: “I’m still young, I’d accomplished everything I wanted to in jiu-jitsu, so I thought it was a great moment to try this MMA career. "Maybe it wouldn’t have worked out, but I’m liking it. I’m adjusting to it really well.”
Her goal is to be the best, but even BJJ world champions have got to start at the bottom. The daughter of fifth-degree black belt Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias ain’t no CM Punk.
She wasn’t about to take on too much, too soon. She made her debut against another novice in July for Legacy Fighting Championship. It wasn’t spectacular, but she dominated for 15 minutes.
It’s not often you see someone combine an omoplata with a rear naked choke, but Dern did to stop Montana Stewart – a fighter with eight times her pro cage experience.
Two fights, two wins. A flawless start. You can rely on nit-picking MMA fans to find cause for criticism and some detractors complained she was relying on her BJJ skills too much. But what else would they expect?
Dern knows what she’s best at and wants to use it to become the foremost jiu-jitsu practitioner in MMA.
“I’m happy just taking it slow. For sure, I think it would be so cool to win by knockout, but my goal is to show jiu-jitsu in MMA. I represent jiu-jitsu. Of course I’m not as good as Demian Maia, but if I can do the same style, I would love to do that – just the efficiency of jiu-jitsu in MMA.”
Not that she neglects her standup. She intends to be as well-rounded as she can be, and being at an elite gym will help that. “My team is so good to me. They keep me confident and remind me what I need to work on.
"I think you try to rely on things that you’re good at and they push me to not just stick to my jiu-jitsu. They make me stand up all the time, so I’m confident that when I’m ready, hopefully it will be a success.”
Cynics might say it’s too early to talk about making the leap to the UFC, but why not? There’s already talk of a title shot in the new leading regional promotion, Legacy Fighting Alliance. If she can claim that title, the only real step up is into the Octagon.
“Our goal is to be in the UFC after my fourth fight,” she explains. “I know the LFA is really interested in me fighting for the new organization’s belt, so I’d like to do that – have one belt and then go into the UFC. Then I’ll be ready.”
Sean Shelby has his eye on this prodigy and Dern has hers on the best 115lb athletes in the world. Her chance at taking on the likes of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Claudia Gadelha, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and co. may be out of reach now, but that hasn’t stopped her from planning how she can bring about their downfall.
“I don’t see any girl in the UFC that could beat me on the ground,” she says. “I definitely think the girls are so tough, they’re good athletes, but it’s such a good advantage for me to go in with a background (in BJJ). I’m so strong. I’m not like an MMA fighter who learned a bit of everything. I have some really, really strong points.
“I have some weaknesses too, but my weaknesses will just get better – like my standup. The girls will have to train for 20 years to get to the same (level) as mine, or everything else will have to be so good to not let me go to the ground.”
With more ways to win from the floor than just about every woman in the world, it would be risky to bet against Mackenzie Dern continuing her success in her new sport.
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