You might not know about her but MacKenzie Dern could be the next big thing in Women’s MMA. One of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters on the planet, she decided to make the transition to MMA recently.
At only 23 years of age Dern is already a grappling prodigy. She is a multiple-time world champion in BJJ (no gi) as well as an ADCC world champion; she even managed to beat Gabi Garcia (!) in competition. Needless to say, the 23-year-old American is an outright BJJ phenom.
Many fans who’d follow Dern’s career in BJJ (and thus knew about her potential) wished for her to make the transition to MMA; she did so on July 22, 2016. Dern was fighting Kenia Rosas in her MMA debut. She won a one-sided unanimous decision, which contributed to keep the Dern hype train going strong.
On Friday, Dern was set to take on Montana Stewart at Legacy Fighting Championship 61. Dern manages to get a nice takedown 3 minutes into the first round. She ends up in mount and unleashes some ground and pound. She later goes for an armbar but her opponent pulls out.
Montana is now in Dern’s guard. Notice how active she is, even in that position. The BJJ phenom switches to a rubber guard, which eventually allows her to secure an omoplata… but she isn’t done yet.
https://twitter.com/ZPGIFs/status/787130535218909184
Without losing the position she goes for a rear-naked-choke at the same time… and she gets it! Successful omoplatas are VERY rare in MMA, let alone an omoplata/rear-naked-choke combo!
Mackenzie Dern pulls off a mind-blowing submission, showing once again why she’s one of the very best grapplers on Earth. Let’s hope for her that her transition to MMA keeps going smoothly. That girl legitimately has the potential to become a Women’s MMA superstar.
