A high stakes strawweight bout is being targeted by UFC President Dana White who said he plans to book Mackenzie Dern against Marina Rodriguez.
UFC President Dana White told TMZ Sports that he was targeting a bout between surging strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez. Though no date for the bout was announced, he did speak glowingly of Dern’s recent success.
Mackenzie Dern (11-1) is currently on a four fight win-streak and is one of the surging contenders in the busy strawweight division. After dropping her first career loss to Amanda Ribas in 2019, Dern reeled off three victories in 2020 against Hannah Cifers, Randa Markos, and Virna Jandiroba. Earlier this year, she submitted fellow ranked contender Nina Ansaroff by first round armbar in April.
Marina Rodriguez (14-1-2) has recently seen a career breakthrough after back-to-back impressive performances. Rodriguez joined the UFC in 2018 through Dana White’s Contender Series and went her first 14 fights as a professional without a loss. In the UFC, she began with two victories and two draws before suffering her first loss against former champion Carla Esparza in 2020. She bounced back in impressive fashion this year, stopping top prospect Amanda Ribas in January and beating perennial contender Michelle Waterson on short notice earlier this month.
