Mackenzie Dern learned a lot in her loss to Marina Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 39 on Saturday night.
Dern lost by unanimous decision, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt had her moments in the fight. The second round saw Dern at her best as she secured a takedown and threatened Rodriguez with a number of submission attempts that she was forced to fight out of. Both women returned to their feet after the exchange on the ground and for the next three rounds, Rodriguez was able to thwart any other takedown attempts and outstrike Dern in a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded performance.
The loss to Rodriguez may have been a bit of a setback for Dern, but the 28-year-old has already vowed to use the experience to improve as a fighter.
“Yesterday wasn’t the result I was training for, but this fight is the biggest learning experience for me,” wrote Dern on Instagram. “Now I have a lot to look back on and fix to become a better fighter! For sure a submission would have been great but to have these rounds for me to work on is such a blessing.
“Congrats Marina for the win,” continued Dern. I hope you guys enjoyed the fight and thanks [Dana White] for FOTN.”
Dern entered the fight on a four-fight win streak. She rebounded from the first loss of her professional career with back-to-back first-round submissions over Hannah Cifers and Randa Markos at UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns and UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley. Dern then earned a unanimous decision win over Virna Jandiroba at UFC 256 and followed that with a submission over Nina Nunes at UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland in April of this year.
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