Mackenzie Dern edges Tecia Torres in all-out war at UFC 273
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 9, 2022, for UFC 273, going down live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Headlining the event is a featherweight championship bout between Alexander Volkanovski and no. 4 ranked Chan Sung Jung, while the co-main event is contested in the bantamweight division, a rematch between UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and interim champion Petr Yan.
The second bout on the main card tonight, following our lightweight contest between Vinc Pichel and Mark Madsen, Mackenzie Dern (no. 5) faced off against Tecia Torres (no. 7). Whoever leaves this fight the victor will most likely find themselves in a title eliminator bout next.
Continue reading to see how this strawweight encounter went down:
Official Result: Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Dern opens up the fight very aggressively, lunging in with punches in attempt to tie up with Torres. All of her attempts are unsuccessful early on, as Torres begins to land some shots on Dern, who’s merely walking into them.
Dern then begins to sit down on her punches more and has some success.
Torres allows Dern to get close enough for a clinch not long into the second, where Dern climbs up on her and aims for the left arm of Torres.
She came incredibly close to securing a kimura, and is eventually able to pull Torres to the mat, who remained in a standing position for a considerable amount of time once it was locked up. Dern ends up on the bottom, where she’s able to scramble into a kneebar, though Torres was too durable for that as well.
Dern again secures another takedown, this time a single leg. Torres however lands a nasty upkick to Dern’s chest and knocks her backward, that was a really nasty kick and it appeared to momentarily knock the wind out of Dern.
Torres initiates a clinch in the final seconds of the bout, where they end in a scramble with Dern on top.
Tecia Torres still hasn’t been finished throughout her entire career, and Mackenzie Dern is back on the winning track.
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!
