LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White walked out of the UFC Apex Saturday impressed with the performance of Mackenzie Dern.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 224, Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) dominated Angela Hill over the course of 25 minutes to win a one-sided unanimous decision. After the fight, Dern called out former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, as she wants to add a big name to her resume.
During the post-event news conference, White was asked what he thinks about the callout and if that’s a fight that could be next for both fighters.
“I don’t know, but that’s a fun fight too,” White told reporters. “Mackenzie’s in a really good position after tonight’s performance. She’s never looked meaner than she looked tonight.
“She came out on a mission, man. She looked like she was in great shape. She fought hard for five rounds. Her stand up was on point. She hurt Angela Hill several times with her standup and was all over her on the ground. Other than pulling off a knockout or a sub, she couldn’t have had a better performance than tonight, so I think anything is possible for her.”
The victory was Dern’s eighth of her UFC career, and a rebound from a majority decision loss to Yan Xiaonan in October. After going through a number of changes in her personal life and professional, Dern believes she’s ready to take things to the next level by challenging a former champion.
Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) dropped the strawweight title in her previous outing, a highly-criticized bout against Carla Esparza at UFC 274 last year. Aside from competing against fellow UFC fighter Gillian Robertson at Fury Pro Grappling 6 in December, Namajunas has been quiet, and doesn’t have a fight scheduled.
White appears to think the matchup would be a good one, but it’s far too soon to know if it could together to meet Dern’s wishes for her next main event outing. The UFC boss loved Dern’s latest work inside the cage, which could bode well for her matchmaking going forward.
“Mackenzie Dern looked unbelievable tonight,” White said. “So aggressive. I don’t know what you guys thought, but I thought this was going to be one of those fights where Angela Hill came out stand up, try to take it to her, and Mackenzie was going to do everything in her power to get it to the ground to try and submit her. To see Mackenzie’s stand up – the punches, the knees actually hurting Angela Hill, who’s tough as nails – then on the flip side, Angela Hill, who’s so tough and durable getting into these positions. … It was a badass fight. It was as good of a main event as you could ever hope for.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
