For UFC strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern, her relationship with fellow Brazilian fighter Antonio Trocoli seemed like a second chance at happiness after a painful divorce from surfer Wesley Santos. Dern was involved in a contentious, public divorce with her now ex-husband, Santos, with whom she has a daughter, born in 2019. After the divorce, she accused him of physical abuse during their two-year marriage.

But from Valentine’s Day posts to police reports, the story of Mackenzie Dern and Antonio Trocoli took a sharp turn. What began as a romance built on shared ambition inside the gym has spiraled into headlines involving arrests, accusations, and a social media fallout that fans can’t stop talking about. So who exactly is Antonio Trocoli, and what led to this public unraveling? Let’s break it down.

Who Is Antonio Trocoli, and how Did He Meet Mackenzie Dern?

Mackenzie Dern’s ex-boyfriend, Antonio Trócoli, is a fellow mixed martial artist who trains at the MMA Lab gym. The Brazilian has a record of 12-5 in his career and specializes in submissions. How they met is still unknown, but they do train at the same gym, which is likely the place where they met and their romance blossomed.

He joined the UFC roster in 2019 after winning by a neck crank over Kenneth Bergh at Dana White’s Contender Series in the same year. However, after testing positive for anabolic steroids and failing a drug test, he was cut from the promotion just weeks later.

The Brazilian got another shot at becoming a UFC fighter when he was booked to fight Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 282. Unfortunately, he was forced to withdraw due to visa issues and was released from the promotion for the second time without having fought in the UFC Octagon, but made his return against Sharaputdin Magomedov in 2024. He lost that bout via third-round KO and dropped a submission loss to Tresean Gore. Regardless, he seems to have had much better luck when it came to his lady love.

Torcoli made his relationship with Mackenzie Dern public in an Instagram post days before Valentine’s Day 2024 and revealed that they had been dating for a year. The couple also exchanged loving messages on Instagram on Valentine’s Day. 

Trocoli posted a video of him and Dern frolicking together and sharing a float on a slide at a water park. “I love to have fun with you! But everything about her is rear naked choke!!! Happy Valentine’s Day my love!!!!!” he wrote.

Dern, too, took to social media to profess her love for the Brazilian. She posted a picture of herself and Trocoli with the caption “Happy Valentines Day Baby!” on her Instagram account. For a while, it looked like the UFC star had found her calm after the storm.

What happened between Trocoli and Dern’s ex-husband, Wesley Santos?

In October 2024, chaos found its way back into Mackenzie Dern’s life. On the morning of October 4, Antonio Trocoli was arrested in Huntington Beach, California, on misdemeanor battery charges following an alleged altercation with Dern’s ex-husband, Wesley Santos. Police confirmed the arrest, stating that Trocoli had been detained around 8:30 a.m. and that the case was under review by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Santos, a professional surfer and father to Dern’s daughter, Moa, claimed to be the victim in the incident. In a statement to MMA Fighting, he alleged that Trocoli had been stalking and threatening him during custody exchanges. “He sent messages through Moa, saying he would beat me up,” Santos claimed. 

According to his account, he was on his skateboard after dropping his daughter off at school when Trocoli allegedly pulled up in a white car, punched him, and fled. “Cops were called, there were several witnesses, and Antonio was arrested for battery,” Santos said.

While Trocoli has not publicly commented on the arrest, the MMA community quickly took notice. The alleged altercation became a hot topic, especially given Dern’s previously turbulent relationship with Santos.

Did Mackenzie Dern and Antonio Trocoli break up after his arrest?

Following the arrest, fans began to notice subtle but telling changes. Mackenzie Dern and Antonio Trocoli unfollowed each other on social media. Photos of them together vanished from Dern’s Instagram, replaced by training updates and family moments. The silence spoke louder than words, signaling that the once-public romance had likely come to an end.

Neither Dern nor Trocoli has commented directly on their relationship status, but reports in early 2025 suggest that Dern ended the relationship after the October incident. Trocoli’s struggles continued inside the Octagon, with back-to-back losses, first to Sharaputdin Magomedov in June 2024 and later to Tresean Gore via submission in November. 

 Now, as Mackenzie Dern gears up to face Virna Jandiroba for the vacant UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship at UFC 321, she seems to be moving forward alone, but stronger.