Mackenzie Dern is one of the best female grapplers on earth. Having gone 3-0 in the cage, she’s also one of the brightest young stars in women’s MMA. If there’s one knock against the Brazilian-American grappling star, however, it’s that she seems to have real difficulty keeping her competition weight in check.
Her indiscretions in this area are becoming quite numerous. She missed weight for her sophomore mixed martial arts bout, tipping the scales at 118.8 lbs rather than 115. She also missed weight for her third MMA bout, clocking in at 120. Now, Dern has missed weight again, this time failing to reach the required 55 kg (121 lbs) for the Abu Dhabi World Pro Tournament. As a result, Dern has been removed from the tournament.
This news was confirmed by FloGrappling.com, who spoke with the tournament organizers. It was not reported by how much Dern missed weight.
Dern was expected to face Belgian brown belt Amal Amjahid in the opening round, but her name has now been scratched from the tournament bracket.
This tournament marked Dern’s opportunity to rebound from a surprise submission loss to the similarly talented Bia Mesquita at the IBJJF’s Rio Falls event back in March. Instead, it serves as the latest strike against her in an ongoing issue with the scale.
Dern’s continued struggles with making weight are problematic, as they cast a shadow on the possibility of her eventually signing with the UFC. Initially, it looked as though she would fit right into the UFC’s strawweight division. Apparently, however, she has difficulty making this weight. Given that the UFC does not yet have a women’s flyweight division, Dern’s only other option on the sport’s biggest stage would be the bantamweight division, which is populated by much larger women. It is worth noting, of course, that Bellator MMA does have a promising looking flyweight division, so it’s possible that Dern could find a home there.
What do you make of Mackenzie Dern’s latest weigh-in miss? Sound off, PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/21/2017.