Now or never for Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern is at a breaking point in her career.
Ranked sixth in the UFC’s women’s strawweight division, it’s been up and down for the Jiu Jitsu heavy fighter. But at 31-years of age, Dern cannot afford another loss if she hopes to become, or even contend for, the title.
Dern rematches Amanda Ribas this weekend. Dern lost the original fight and looks to avenge her first career loss. That was 2019. Many things have changed until then.
Mackenzie Dern cannot afford another loss
Since her first career loss to Ribas, which put Mackenzie Dern at a 7-1 record, things have been rocky. The Black House MMA talent has lost four fights since the. They were all tests.
Marina Rodriguez, Xiaonan Yan, Jessica Andrade, Amanda Lemos: three of these four have fought for the title. Andrade has held the title. Dern could not step up to the plate on each of these occasions.
At 2-2 in her last four fights, another loss to Ribas would be catastrophic. Her former foe is ranked two spots below Dern’s number six ranking in the division. Losing would not only swap the two’s place, but Dern would dive bomb in the top ten, starting over from scratch again.
The path ahead: rocky as it gets
The path to the top of 115 is no easy path followed. Of the three women’s divisions, strawweight is by far the toughest. Ahead, should she win, Makenzie Dern has a near impossible task.
Amanda Lemos, Xiaonan Yan, and Jessica Andrade are all ahead of her. All three have beat Dern convincingly. Virna Jandiroba, someone who Dern has actually beat, is ahead of her as well. Then there’s the nightmare of a matchup, Tatiana Suarez.
Atop this division is, of course, Weili Zhang.
Getting to Zhang will either be through someone Dern has fought, and likely lost to. The win, Jandiroba, is vastly improved and would be a much harder fight for Dern.
For Mackenzie Dern, it’s now or never. The path ahead is difficult. But a loss this weekend would make the pass near impossible.
