Mackenzie Dern had to work through a relentless Hannah Cifers in the early going, but ultimately did what she does best.
Dern (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) made relatively quick work of Cifers (10-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) – but only after she was able to get the fight to the canvas, where she forced Cifers to tap with a kneebar. The finish for Dern, the biggest favorite on the card, came at the 2:36 mark of the opening round.
The women’s strawweight bout opened up the UFC on ESPN 9 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.
Cifers wasn’t shy about moving in quick against Dern and tied things up. She made the fight dirty right away with dirty boxing and knees and seemed to throw Dern a little out of her element. After a minute of it, she pushed Dern away and went back to the middle. There, Dern landed a couple solid right hands.
But Cifers fired right back, and when Dern wanted to take the fight to the canvas into her domain, it was the beginning of the end. Cifers initially was able to roll through the takedown and was on top for just a moment. But Dern went after Cifers’ leg, and once she had it, Cifers quickly had to tap.
Dern’s win was the first leglock submission of any kind in a UFC women’s fight. It brought her back to the win column after a loss to Amanda Ribas this past October, which was the first setback of her pro career and came in her return after a pregnancy and birth of a child.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 9 results include:
- Mackenzie Dern def. Hannah Cifers via submission (kneebar) – Round 1, 2:36
- Katlyn Chookagian def. Antonina Shevchenko via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)
- Daniel Rodriguez def. Gabriel Green via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jamahal Hill def. Klidson Abreu via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:51
- Brandon Royval def. Tim Elliott via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:18
- Casey Kenney def. Louis Smolka via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:03
- Chris Gutierrez def. Vince Morales via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 2, 4:27
