With her decorated Brazilian jiu jitsu background, expectations were high for Mackenzie Dern when she entered the UFC in early 2018. More than five years later, she’s not come close to reaching them.
After two victories to open her UFC tenure, Dern lost in her third octagon appearance to Amanda Ribas, but she responded by winning four consecutive fights. That streak ended in October 2021, during which she’s alternated wins and losses to post a 2-3 record. Dern lost to Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan but picked up wins over Tecia Torres and Angela Hill before suffering a devastating TKO loss to former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade this past Saturday at UFC 295.
The loss to Andrade, who was on a three-fight skid, was the worst of Dern’s career after she was dropped four times before ultimately finished in Round 2. Dern’s striking looked silly at times.
The poor performance has us wondering: Are Dern’s UFC title aspirations kaput, or can the 30-year-old still right the ship? Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Nolan King and Simon Samano answered that question with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.
You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode on YouTube below.
