Mackenzie Dern: who is the Brazilian UFC champion

Mackenzie Dern returns to the Octagon this Saturday (15), at UFC 330, in Philadelphia, to defend her UFC strawweight belt for the first time. Brazilian-American, the 33-year-old fighter was born in Phoenix, in the United States, but has a strong connection with Brazil and represents the country in MMA. She is the daughter of Wellington “Megaton” Dias, a renowned jiu-jitsu athlete.

When she was still a child, she alternated trips between Brazil and the United States. The athlete is fluent in English and Portuguese. Currently, despite being considered Brazilian and being the only one in the country to have a UFC belt, she fights for the RVCA team, from Los Angeles, in the United States.

How did Mackenzie Dern get to the UFC?

Mackenzie began her career in martial arts as a child. At the age of three, she was already practicing the gentle art with her father and stepmother. At 14 years old, the Brazilian-American was already competing. She has already won the world championship in all tracks. As a black belt, she has already won the main grappling tournament in the world, the ADCC in 2015, competing in the category up to 60 kg. Still No Gi, she won the IBJJF World title twice and in both appearances she also finished runner-up in the Absolute (2014 and 2015).

She turned professional in MMA in 2016. Her first fights were for Legacy FC and Invicta FC. There were five consecutive victories, with three submissions. The good performance immediately caught the attention of the UFC. His debut came in 2018, with a split decision victory over Ashley Yoder. Afterwards, Mackenzie submitted Amanda Bobby.

The first defeat came in 2019 to compatriot Amanda Ribas. However, afterwards, Mackenzie won four consecutive victories, over Hannah Cifers, Randa Markos, Virna Jandiroba and Nina Nunes. From then on, the Brazilian-American had an irregular streak. There were defeats to Marina Rodriguez, Xiaonan Yan, Jessica Andrade and Amanda Lemos, and victories over Tecia Pennington, Angela Hill, Lupita Godinez and Amanda Ribas.

The last triumph was the biggest of Mackenzie’s career. By beating Virna Jandiroba from Bahia in October last year, in a unanimous decision by the referees, she won the UFC women’s strawweight belt. Now, against Canadian Gillian Robertson, she defends the title for the first time.

How many wins does Mackenzie Dern have in the UFC?

Mackenzie Dern

• Nationality: Brazilian/American
• Category: strawweight
• Age: 33 years old
• Height: 1.62 m
• Record: 16 wins and 5 losses
• Submission wins: 8
• Decision wins: 8
• Title: UFC strawweight champion