Mackenzie Dern has made some rather bold claims recently, that she actually has the best Jiu-Jitsu in women’s MMA. To be fair to the multiple-time IBJJF world champion, it’s actually pretty hard to make a case against her. She’s already experienced both the highs and lows of her professional MMA career despite still being relatively new to the sport but her most recent fight against Tecia Torres at UFC 273 showed just how far she’s come.
Not only was she able to show a significantly improved striking game but she also showed that she was still more than capable of going back to where she is best and won exchanges on the ground with ease. As a result, Mackenzie Dern felt confident enough during the post-fight press conference to make the claim that she’s got the best Jiu-Jitsu in women’s MMA:
“Title-wise I know everyone in the Jiu-Jitsu world. I came into the UFC with the whole Jiu-Jitsu community behind me so I know 100 percent from the Jiu-Jitsu world I’m the best in MMA that made the transition.”
As most people know, Jiu-Jitsu within the sport itself is drastically different to Jiu-Jitsu within MMA as a result of the inclusion of strikes. Dern explained that she’s also acutely aware of the difference between the two, but she’s already proven that she’s more than capable of adapting to the different ruleset:
“Of course, with punches and time limit in the cage that changes our Jiu-Jitsu a little bit. But when you think of possibilities and what I bring to the table about Jiu-Jitsu… There are submissions that I know for sure most of the girls have never even heard of. So definitely I think my fight just pulling guard was the first time I ever did that, I think that’s gonna make the girls think a little bit differently.”
The full interview where Mackenzie Dern claims to have the best Jiu-Jitsu in womens’ MMA was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of MMAJunkie and can be seen below:
