Jiu-jitsu world champion Mackenzie Dern is moving to the UFC
- Published
The world’s best female grappler is set to join the UFC ranks
Multiple Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Mackenzie Dern will soon join the UFC and will compete in the octagon early this year. That's according to UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby who broke the news to former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
And hot on the heels of that development, came reports of her debut matchup, with US outlet MMAFighting.com reporting Dern will face The Ultimate Fighter graduate Ashley Yoder (5-3) in a strawweight bout at UFC 222 in Las Vegas on 3 March.
Dern - the daughter of multiple-time Pan-American BJJ champion and world medallist Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias - is being talked about as one of the most talented female martial artists to join the UFC in recent years.
The 24-year-old black belt is seen as one of the very best female jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world. She's captured multiple jiu-jitsu world titles in the gi and no-gi disciplines, three world professional jiu-jitsu titles and on top of that, has been awarded the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) submission wrestling world title.
Dern transitioned from jiu-jitsu to mixed martial arts in 2016 and competed in promotions outside the UFC, compiling a 5-0 record, with three of those wins coming by way of submission.
And now she’s all set to make her eagerly-anticipated debut in the UFC’s octagon, with her first bout set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Speaking to MMAFighting, external just before Christmas, Dern said she felt the time was right for her to make the step up and test herself at the sport’s highest level.
“I have the goal to fight in the UFC. That’s the main goal, to be the UFC champion,” she said.
“I think [the UFC is] the perfect place to have some good fights to keep growing as an athlete to one day be a champion.
“I feel like I’m ready to go in there to keep growing as a fighter.
“I believe in my jiu-jitsu, I believe in my stand-up, I believe in my heart and my hard work, so I can fight a lot of the girls there. I think I’m ready.”
UFC 222 is set to feature a heavyweight clash between seven-foot-tall Dutchman Stefan ‘Skyscraper’ Struve and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, as well as the return of former women’s bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano, with the American set to take on undefeated Brazilian Ketlen Vieira.
A middleweight clash between veterans CB Dollaway and Hector Lombard is also scheduled for the 3 March event. At time of writing, no main event has been announced.
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