Rising strawweight contender and submission specialist Mackenzie Dern may have spent extra time working on her striking, but for some reason her opponents keep testing her ground game. Randa Markos was the latest and ultimately fell victim to Dern's submission prowess.
After an early exchange, Dern missed a kick and fell to the mat which prompted Markos to pounce on her. It probably wasn't the smartest decision given Dern's jiu-jitsu and grappling background. Dern attempted a triangle choke before reversing positions into the mount where she began methodically working to set up an armbar submission. There was little Markos could do to escape and ultimately succumbed to the armbar, tapping at 3:44 of the opening round.
“I’m so happy,” Dern said in the post-fight interview. “I really wanted to show my hands a little more. I don’t know why the girls want to stay on the ground with me. I got a submission, representing jiu-jitsu.”
A rising contender in the strawweight division, Dern will get another chance to show off her hands. The No. 15-ranked Dern is now 9-1 and has rattled off two-straight wins following her unanimous decision loss to Amanda Ribas in October 2019.
Dern didn't specifically call out anyone for her next fight, but she'll almost certainly face a top 10 opponent next.