Mackenzie Dern News

Josh Evanoff - May 17, 2023

UFC women’s strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern has had a rough path to her return. The Brazilian has been out of the cage since her main event outing against Yan Xiaonan last October. In that outing, ‘Fury’ scored a majority decision victory over the jiu-jitsu ace. The defeat dropped Dern to two losses in her three most recent octagon appearances.

Cole Shelton - February 21, 2023

The UFC has started to fill out its May 13 event with two fights being added including the return of Mackenzie Dern. According to MMAJunkie, Dern is set to face Angela Hill at strawweight on May 13 at a location TBD. Later, it was reported by Mani Mayer that Karolina Kowalkiewicz will face Vanessa Demopoulos on that same May 13 event. The location of the card has not been announced, but the main event will see Anthony Smith take on Johnny walker.

Cole Shelton - October 3, 2022

In the main event of UFC Vegas 61, a top-10 strawweight bout headlined the card as Mackenzie Dern took on Yan Xiaonan. Dern entered the fight coming off a split decision win over Tecia Torres to return to the win column after a five-round decision loss to Marina Rodriguez in her first UFC main event. Xiaonan, meanwhile, was set to headline her first UFC card and was coming off back-to-back losses to Rodriguez by split decision and a TKO loss to Carla Esparza.

Christopher Taylor - October 1, 2022

Mackenzie Dern has issued a statement following her majority decision loss to Xiaonan Yan in tonight’s UFC Vegas 61 main event. Dern (12-3 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since defeating Tecia Torres at UFC 273. The jiu-jitsu ace had gone 5-1 over her past six Octagon appearances overall, with three of those five wins coming by way of submission.

Chris Taylor - October 1, 2022

Tonight’s UFC Vegas 61 event is headlined by a key women’s strawweight matchup featuring Mackenzie Dern taking on Xiaonan Yan. Dern (12-2 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since defeating Tecia Torres at UFC 273. The jiu-jitsu ace has gone 5-1 over her past six Octagon appearances overall, with three of those five wins coming by way of submission.

Chris Taylor - October 1, 2022

The Octagon remains in Nevada for today’s UFC Vegas 61 event, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by Mackenzie Dern vs. Xiaonan Yan. Dern (12-2 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since defeating Tecia Torres at UFC 273. The jiu-jitsu ace has gone 5-1 over her past six Octagon appearances overall, with three of those five wins coming by way of submission.

Harry Kettle - September 29, 2022

UFC president Dana White has rejected rumours that Mark Zuckerberg rented out the entire UFC Apex for UFC Vegas 61 this weekend. Mixed martial arts is a strange sport and in the blink of an eye, a rumour can spread like wildfire – and nobody knows that more than Dana White.

Josh Evanoff - September 28, 2022

UFC women’s strawweight contender Yan Xiaonan is ready to do whatever it takes to defeat Mackenzie Dern. The Chinese fighter is fresh off her bout with Marina Rodriguez at UFC 272 in March. In that outing, Xiaonan lost by a contentious split decision. The defeat was her second in a row, as she was previously finished by Carla Esparza in May 2021.

Cole Shelton - September 27, 2022

Mackenzie Dern is excited to headline another card. Dern is set to headline UFC Vegas 61 against Yan Xiaonan in a crucial fight for the strawweight division. Although Xiaonan is coming off two straight losses, Dern knows she is a tough test and after she defeated Tecia Torres last time out, the American expected this fight to be next.

Cole Shelton - September 27, 2022

The 95th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is live ahead of UFC Vegas 61 and BKFC 30. We’re first joined by one-half of the main event in fifth-ranked strawweight Mackenzie Dern (2:10). Next, former UFC heavyweight and current BKFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell (18:41) comes on. UFC bantamweight Randy Costa (31:51) then joins the show. Closing out the program is UFC bantamweight John Castaneda (50:55).

Josh Evanoff - June 24, 2022

If Carla Esparza isn’t interested in fighting Weili Zhang, Mackenzie Dern would love to. ‘Magnum’ is fresh off a victory over Joanna Jędrzejczyk earlier this month at UFC 275. Following the knockout win, Zhang called for a fight with the champion later this year. While Dana White confirmed that he will make the fight, Esparza later said the challenger will go on her timeline.

Chris Taylor - April 9, 2022

Tonight’s UFC 273 main card features a key women’s strawweight bout between Mackenzie Dern and Tecia Torres. Dern (11-2 MMA), an accomplished Brazilian black belt and MMA fighter, will be looking to rebound from her loss to Marina Rodriguez last October. The jiu-jitsu ace previously won four straight fights and is regarded as one of the top female grapplers of her generation.

Cole Shelton - April 5, 2022

The 73rd episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC 273 and it is stacked. We’re first joined by the UFC’s featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski (3:23). Fifth-ranked strawweight, Mackenzie Dern (26:57) then comes on. UFC welterweight, Ian Garry (42:58) joins the show. Korean Zombie’s head coach, Eddie Cha (1:04:42) then stops by. Eighth-ranked UFC heavyweight, Jairzinho Rozenstruik (1:18:29) then joins the show. UFC lightweight, Vinc Pichel (1:30:45) comes on. Closing out the program is UFC heavyweight, Jared Vanderaa (1:47:37).

Susan Cox - January 13, 2022

Two marquee match-ups have been added to April 9th’s UFC 273 event, including Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres. Dern (11-2 MMA) an accomplished Brazilian black belt and MMA fighter is looking to rebound from her loss to Marina Rodriguez last October. The jiu-jitsu ace previously won four straight fights and is regarded as one of the top female grapplers of her generation.

Harry Kettle - December 30, 2021

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is targeting two strawweight bouts for early next year – including Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres. The strawweight division is one of the most intriguing in the entire promotion and the UFC is well aware of that. From young talent rising up through the ranks to the top 10 all being absolute killers, they’ve got plenty of options ahead of them as 2022 approaches.

Drake Riggs - October 11, 2021

Carla Esparza believes she should be the one rematching Rose Namajunas next – even more so after Mackenzie Dern’s recent loss. This past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 39 main event saw No. 6 ranked strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez score a stout unanimous decision over Dern – leaving the 15-1-2 Brazilian with her lone loss coming to Esparza.

Adam D Martin - October 10, 2021

UFC women’s strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern released a statement following her decision loss to Marina Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 39. Dern lost a unanimous decision to Rodriguez in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 39, which was the “Fight of the Night.” It was a fantastic back-and-forth fight between the two 115lbs contenders, but it was Rodriguez who ultimately walked away with the win after out striking her opponent for the majority of the 25 minutes. Although Dern did have some strong points in the fight with her ground game, overall she was beaten to the punch on the feet. Still, it was an awesome fight and Dern gained plenty of respect for her performance in the fight. Despite losing, she went a hard 25 minutes and showed heart.

Chris Taylor - October 9, 2021

The Octagon remained in Nevada for today’s UFC Vegas 39 event, a nine-bout fight card headlined by strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez. The highly anticipated main event proved to be a classic strikes versus grappler matchup. Marina Rodriguez was able to simply outclass Mackenzie Dern while on the feet, but the jiu-jitsu wizard nearly finished the fight in round three thanks to her submission game. Despite her best efforts Dern could not overcome the striking prowess of Rodriguez and wound up losing the five-round contest on points.