Mixed martial arts fans have been looking for someone worthy of the title ‘The next Ronda Rousey,’ and according to some we may have finally found her: 23-year-old jiu jitsu master Mackenzie Dern only made the decision to transition into MMA back in October 2015, but she’s already got a lot of heat behind her as a fighter to watch. Amongst her believers is training partner and former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who couldn’t say enough positive things about the grappling ace.
“She will be bigger than Ronda Rousey before Ronda Rousey lost,” he told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour. “She’s going to be huge. She’s going to be big. … Go look her up, she is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion. She’s won ADCC. She’s won Abu Dhabi. She’s won Worlds. She’s the current No. 1 ranked female jiu-jitsu practitioner on the planet. She has an amazing work ethic. She’s an amazing athlete. She definitely needs to work on her MMA skills, but her ground game is phenomenal. Any woman on the planet goes to the ground with Mackenzie and Mackenzie is going to tap her, or dominate her like she did her first opponent.”
That first opponent was Kenia Rosas back in July, and Dern repeatedly took her down, advanced to mount, and beat on her with some impressive ground and pound for such a new talent. If Rosas wasn’t willing to have her arms hyperextended multiple times, Dern would have gotten a submission win rather than a 30-27, 30-26 and 30-25 decision.
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Dern’s career looks like it’s going to be taking place at strawweight, so there’s very little chance she’ll ever end up facing Ronda Rousey. But in another two years, it wouldn’t be surprising if she becomes the Ronda of her weight class. She’s already a legitimate celebrity in the jiu jitsu world and has a quarter of a million followers on Instagram. By the time she works her way up to the UFC, the world could be ready to embrace her as the next MMA superstar.
(Via MMA Fighting)
