Mackenzie Dern is scheduled to face Hannah Cifers this weekend as the UFC returns to its home in Las Vegas and hosts UFC on ESPN 9 at their Apex facility. Dern is coming off of a loss from October of last year against Amanda Ribas, four months after giving birth. Dern does not regret making the quick return and she is looking forward to competing again this weekend.
When speaking with TMZ, Dern reiterated what fans know about her and that her strength in the fight with Cifers lies in the ground game. Dern said she had studied Cifers and from what she can tell she is both strong physically and mentally, citing her forward movement and willingness to exchange in striking. “The strategy from what I saw I could be wrong but from what I thought I think her ground is probably like her weaker point, Dern said of Cifers and added, “You know that’s my strongest point so of course, I’m going to want to take the fight to the ground and submit.”
Of Dern’s seven wins, four come by way of submission. Most of Dern’s career was in Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) where she got most of her experience in mixed martial arts, to make her way to the UFC. Her second fight in LFA is where she put her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on display for the rest of the MMA world to see when she submitted Montana De La Rosa in 2016 at LFA 61.
She is 2-1 in the UFC and the loss to Ribas was her first in the promotion but as a lifelong competitor, Dern did not dwell on the loss. She is looking forward to the weekend bout with Cifers.
Should she win, she said, “I’ll get home, go see my daughter with like, no cuts.”
Is Dern going to be correct or will Cifers be ready for it?
