Top female prospect and BJJ champ Mackenzie Dern will be fighting under the Invicta FC banner shortly.
On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, BJJ ace Mackenzie Dern announced that she’s signed a new deal with Invicta FC. That’s a huge deal for Shannon Knapp’s all-female fighting promotion. To date, Dern (4-0) has fought all her bouts under the Legacy FC/Legacy Fighting Alliance banner. She’s an ADCC gold medalist (2015) who also scored gold at the World Cup in Abu Dhabi in both 2015 and 2016.
Dern will make her Invicta FC debut against former strawweight title challenger Kaline Medeiros. The fight will take place December 8 at Invicta FC 26 in Kansas City, MO.
Dern has long been considered a top prospect in the sport, and was the number one ranked female BJJ practitioner when she transitioned to MMA in 2015. She immediately made a splash, winning her debut, then stunning fans with her sophomore effort. That fight, at Legacy FC 61, saw her finish current TUF 26 competitor Montana Stewart by Imanari choke. The Imanari choke is a rarely seen combination of omoplata and rear-naked choke, named for Masakazu Imanari, who helped popularize the move.
Dern most recently competed at flyweight as part of LFA 24 last month, submitting Mandy Polk by rear-naked choke. Curiously, despite venturing up to 125lbs after missing weight in two straight fights, she has opted to head back to strawweight for her Invicta debut against Medeiros.
Invicta FC 26 takes place December 8 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, MO. Jennifer Maia defends her flyweight title against the undefeated Agnieszka Niedźwiedź in the main event.
