Mackenzie Dern

Overview

Five submissions in the UFC, four of them inside the first round. And the strawweight belt now sits with a fighter who lost four of six between October 2021 and February 2024.

Mackenzie Dern is the Women's Strawweight champion and carries a 12-5 UFC record into her next fight, with four straight wins. Her 17-5-0 professional record across all promotions includes fights outside the UFC. She fights out of Santos Studios, and she has never been finished by submission in the UFC.

Her career comes down to two outcomes: she submits people early, or she wins and loses on the scorecards. Seven of her 12 UFC wins went the distance, and four of her five losses did too.

UFC Career

Dern debuted at UFC 222 in March 2018 with a split decision over Ashley Yoder, then submitted Amanda Cooper in the first round at UFC 224. A decision loss to Amanda Ribas in October 2019 was her first setback.

The 2020 and 2021 run was her cleanest stretch. She submitted Hannah Cifers and Randa Markos in the first round, took a unanimous decision over Virna Jandiroba, and submitted Nina Nunes at 4:48 of round one.

Then came the main-event test. She headlined against Marina Rodriguez in a five-round fight and lost a unanimous decision. Our model rates Rodriguez a strong opponent. A split decision over Tecia Pennington followed, then a majority decision loss to Yan Xiaonan over five rounds.

A five-round decision win over Angela Hill in another main event was followed by the roughest patch of her UFC run. Jessica Andrade stopped her in round two at 3:15, her only KO/TKO loss, and Amanda Lemos, another strong opponent, beat her by unanimous decision three months later.

She rebuilt with a decision win over Loopy Godinez, then headlined against Ribas again and submitted her at 4:56 of round three, four seconds short of the final bell. That win avenged her 2019 loss.

The title chapter followed. At UFC 321 she beat Jandiroba by unanimous decision over five rounds in a title fight, a strong opponent by our tiers. At UFC 330 she took another five-round unanimous decision, this time over Gillian Robertson, in a title fight against another strong opponent.

Four wins in a row, two of them title fights. Both went the full five.

Fighting Style

Dern is a submission hunter first. She chases finishes more than almost any fighter in the UFC, and that threat defines her game. Getting the fight to the mat is a different story: she rarely lands takedowns, and she gets taken down more than most.

On the feet she is a middle-of-the-road striker. Her output and the shots she takes sit around the UFC average, though her accuracy runs lower.

The finish pattern fits that profile. All five of her UFC finishes are submissions, and she has no knockouts. Four came in round one and the fifth came in round three. The other seven wins went to decision.

Notable Wins

• Amanda Ribas — submission, round 3, 4:56, UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2 (2025)
• Virna Jandiroba — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC 321 title fight (2025)
• Gillian Robertson — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC 330 title fight (2026)
• Angela Hill — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Hill (2023)

Quick Facts

• Division: Women's Strawweight (champion)
• UFC record: 12-5 (5 submissions, 7 decisions)
• Professional record, all promotions: 17-5-0
• UFC debut: March 2018
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'4" / 63"
• Team: Santos Studios
• Born: Arizona, United States