Mackenzie Dern Reveals Why She Did Not Use Her Ground Game Against Virna Jandiroba

The last PPV card of the year for the promotion was an incredibly successful one. The UFC 256 card was stacked all the way to the prelims and had some exciting fights. Fans were treated to everything from submission wins, to insane knockouts to a five-round slugfest. The card had it all.

Mackenzie Dern took on Virna Jandiroba in the third fight on the main card. With a win over ‘Carcara’ the 11th ranked Dern will most definitely break into the top ten of the women’s strawweight division next.

Read: Dana White announces big news- says a lot of fighters will be let go 

Mackenzie Dern moves to 3-0 with a brilliant performance against Jandiroba 

In the post-fight press conference, a reporter asked Dern why she decided to stand up and strike instead of using her impeccable ground game.

She replied, “You know I wanted submission of the year but I thought hey maybe we can have knockout of the year… You know I really just been training so much my striking you know… I went for some takedowns but felt like I was chasing her so I was going into takedowns far.”

Dern continued, “So I started to feel my hands landing more than my entrance to the takedowns. So I said okay I think this fight is going to be a little bit more standup. I started to feel my jab hitting her and in the third round felt like I knocked her a little bit.”

Dern won her first two fights in the UFC before succumbing to a loss against Amanda Ribas last October. Since the loss, Dern is on a 3 fight win streak with two of them coming via submission. For someone who has secured a staggering 60% of her wins via submission, Dern displayed impressive striking. She landed 101 total strikes with an accuracy of 52% and 82 significant strikes with an accuracy of 47%. 

With the win, Dern has put herself in a prime position for a top 10 rank and a top 10 opponent next.

What did you make of Mackenzie Dern’s striking in her win over Jandiroba? Let us know in the comments below.