Mackenzie Dern Blasts Amanda Cooper With a Punch, Finishes with Rear Naked Choke
Mackenzie Dern still has plenty of questions left to answer after coming into her fight seven pounds overweight, but there's no denying her performance after making quick work of Amanda Cooper on Saturday night in Brazil.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy has been one of the most talked about additions to the UFC roster in recent months and after picking up a win in her debut back in March, she quickly made a turn around to compete at UFC 224 in Brazil where her father would watch her fight for the first time.
Unfortunately, Dern's week got off to a rough start after missing a flight to Brazil and then coming in extremely overweight on Friday. Still, Cooper accepted the fight after taking 30-percent of Dern's purse as punishment.
As the fight got underway, Dern showed confidence in her hands by exchanging with Cooper almost immediately and not backing down from a more experienced striker on the feet.
After a few shots went back and forth, Dern uncorked a hellacious right hand that absolutely blasted Cooper on the chin and sent her crashing down to the canvas.
Dern followed her down to the mat where she quickly moved into the mount before rolling over to take the back. A moment later, Dern had her arms wrapped around Cooper's neck and at that point the former "Ultimate Fighter" finalist had no choice but to tap out or go to sleep.
The stoppage came at 2:27 into the opening round.
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Dern remains undefeated in her professional career with a perfect 7-0 record with back-to-back wins inside the Octagon. Following her win, Dern dedicated her performance to her father, who was sitting cage side in Rio.
"This victory was for you dad," Dern said.
There's no doubt that Dern is one of the most naturally talented fighters in the UFC's strawweight division but she now has to figure out a way to get her weight in check as she's missed weight while competing at 115 pounds as many times as she's hit the mark in her career.
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That being said, Dern is a superstar in the making if she can figure out the weight cut as she quickly moves to 2-0 in her UFC career with the latest victory on Saturday night in Brazil.
