Strawweight prospect Mackenzie Dern was unable to finish Kenia Rosas in her mixed martial arts debut at Legacy 58, but the current number one pound-for-pound grappler did put on a dominating performance.
Dern spoke to MMAFighting‘s Ariel Helwani about the fight and outlined her future goals in the sport:
“I’m always confident in my jiu-jitsu, especially since it was Kenia Rosas’ pro debut, and it was my first fight, so I was definitely confident in my jiu-jitsu,” Dern told Ariel Helwani on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. “I hoping to get a submission, but, man, she was so flexible and very tough.
“I wasn’t upset about it. I felt I was really good in the whole fight. It was good to see the cardio different between jiu-jitsu and MMA, to go all three rounds, and being attacking all three rounds and not feel tired, and see everything’s going good. And jiu-jitsu you don’t really hurt people. It was kind of good for me to see ‘okay, I can throw elbows, I can throw this.’ It was good for me to feel that. I like it.”
Mackenzie is hopeful that she will be able to sign with the UFC and earn the women’s strawweight title before the end of 2017.
“I learn fast. I think that as long as I keep evolving, that’s the plan,” Dern said. “I’m not gonna give up on what I have planned. I think I’m doing good, just to get used to it and keep being confident and trust. There’s so much stuff that my coaches taught me. But I think for my first fight was able to have that come out. I’m excited to start testing more my stand-up but, of course, I’m never gonna take away my jiu-jitsu. I’ll always go to jiu-jitsu, but I’m still confident with that goal. I think that maybe by the end of 2017 I can try for a title. We’ll see. Who knows? You never know. But that’s the goal.”