Las Vegas, NV – Coming into her main event spot at UFC Vegas 73 against Angela Hill at the UFC APEX, strawweight Mackenzie Dern looks to snap a two-fight main event losing streak on Saturday night.
“I’m 0-2 in my main event here at the APEX so when they gave me another opportunity I was like ok let’s do it,” Dern told reporters on Wednesday.
“I wanted like the crowd I was excited to be in North Carolina, Charlotte, the crowd. So I have like a little bit trauma I guess you could say here (APEX). I wanted to break that too at the same time. I’ve had good moments at the APEX too so I’m not complaining.”
Dern (12-3) is 0-2 in main events at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, but the it’s important to note the opponents whom she faced in those fights. In five years in the UFC she hasn’t really been given the slowest build up.
“I think the type of fighters that I was given for my main events, Marina (Rodriguez) and Yan Xiaonan, I think they were both really experienced fighters with good movement. For me, now going into this fight and with my loss, I have a vision that’s better,” Dern said.
“I don’t need to submit every single round, like this pressure, and just this anxiety. Not anxiety, but like excitement.”
Dern said she’s had issues trying to get the submission every round, and each round that she didn’t submit her opponent, she would get more and more frustrated. It’s something she said she’s worked on in this camp.
At UFC Vegas 73 she will headline against Hill who comes into the fight on a two-fight win streak and looking to make a statement with a win over Dern.
“She has more than 30 fights I think. I’m not 100% sure, but I think she was in the house the Ultimate Fighter house with the OG girls of the division. I definitely think, with everything she’s gone through, I’m fighting the best version of Angela right now,” said Dern.
“The better the opponent, the higher the fight is, the better you get pushed.”
Dern knows that Hill is very durable and experienced going the distance in her fights. She’ll have to be up for that challenge as well on Saturday.
“She’s not a girl that I want to mess up my tactic which is why I lost my two main events, in my mind. I don’t want to let her get ahead, I don’t want her to get her rhythm, because I see her kind of start to flow. She’s scrappy, she doesn’t give up, she’s not easy to submit,” she said.
“I’m coming with a lot of aggression. From my personal life, nothing personal against Angela I have a lot of respect for her, but I need to get it done.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Mackenzie Dern above. She takes on Angela Hill in the main event of UFC Vegas 73 on Saturday night.
