Mackenzie Dern considered UFC Vegas 73 withdrawal, unleashed anger on Angela Hill
Mackenzie Dern put on one of the most impressive performances of her MMA career this past Saturday in Las Vegas, dominating Angela Hill for 25 minutes to win a one-sided decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 73.
And it’s only the beginning, Dern said.
The jiu-jitsu ace was very honest during fight week about her personal struggles leading up to the fight, going through a divorce and juggling her camp without her main coach Jason Parillo. She still beat Hill in impressive fashion at the UFC APEX. But she almost pulled out a month before the event.
“The first month [of camp], I swear I thought about pulling out of the fight,” Dern said on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocação Franca. “Lawyers, my ex wanting things, trying to find evidence of things, saying I’m a negligent mother. Imagine me as a mother, I get punched in the face, to be fighting for my daughter, I have to win a fight because I have bills to pay, to pay a house for my daughter, and someone you live with for three years – someone you’ve helped get a green card and support his dreams – is saying you’re negligent, say lies about me.
“Imagine all that, to be defending yourself for a judge and lawyers? All that during a camp. I had so much to lose. … We’re always prepared. We’ll give everything we have. We know the consequences. We can get hurt in a fight, we can lose sponsors, we can lose value as a fighter, but let’s go. It all worked out in the end. And all I do is for my daughter.”
“I didn’t raise my daughter to think that a relationship should be what I had with my ex-husband, you know?” she continued. “It had aggression, it had lies, it was something very toxic. It’s hard to leave a relationship because of family sometimes, you think you need to stay together because of the family. I want something good for my daughter in the future, I want her to have a healthy and happy relationship. Of all the things that were going on, my ex saying he couldn’t work because his back was hurt, saying he couldn’t work because he didn’t speak English even though he’s always spoken English in interviews and all. I hope my daughter sees how much I’m doing for her. I hope she’s proud of me.”
MMA fighter Antonio Troccoli joined her team as one of her head coaches while Jason Parillo travelled to coach Luke Rockhold for his bare-knuckle boxing debut. Troccoli was one of the voices, alongside her father Wellington Dias and Rogerio Camoes, that convinced Dern to stay on the fight.
Dern said she’s showed a new and improved side of her on May 20, and her anger over her personal circumstances “definitely” was part of the equation this time for “knowing that the money you’re about to make will be paid to someone else for doing nothing.”
“I was unleashing anger,” Dern said with a laugh. “It’s not only emotion, of course. I was motivated. I needed to win. I needed a bonus. I needed all the money I could get because of everything I was going through, the [divorce]. All that and my desire to win since I was coming off a loss. I had anger, I was letting it all out, but I also evolved in this camp.
“I don’t want people to think it was only anger during the fight, unleashing it all on Angela, you know? I really have a better idea of [the sport] now. The motivation in this fight was everything I’m going through, the divorce, my ex-husband and all that, but people can see that — I wouldn’t call it a new Mackenzie, but an evolved Mackenzie.”
Dern gives props to Hill for surviving multiple submission attempts and fighting back hard ground and pound she landed throughout the fight. She said this “more aggressive” version of herself is inspired by “old-school” fighters, ones that got fans anxious to see them in action and became legends of the sport.
The multiple-time jiu-jitsu champion wants to climb the ladder and face Rose Namajunas next, saying “it’s the only fight that makes sense for me now.”
“I think the only way it doesn’t happen is if she really doesn’t want to fight,” Dern said. “I don’t see other opponent for me at this time. Jessica [Andrade] is coming off two losses. And the way [Dana White] has said about my performance, anything can happen. I just want to train and stay strong and focused to get to the belt.”