A 27-year-old American made UFC history by becoming the first woman to finish an opponent with a leglock submission
- Mackenzie Dern made history at a UFC on ESPN 9 event in Las Vegas on Saturday.
- A Brazilian jiu jitsu expert, Dern submitted her opponent Hannah Cifers with a move never completed by a woman in UFC history.
- Dern later said she was inspired by the tennis champion Serena Williams who, like Dern, returned from maternity leave to continue to excel in high-level sport.
A 27-year-old American called Mackenzie Dern made UFC history by becoming the first woman to finish an opponent with a leglock submission.
It all went down at Apex, a UFC-owned facility in Las Vegas, during the UFC on ESPN 9 event show headlined by Gilbert Burns' dominant win over the former UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
Dern, a former No.1 world-ranked Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor with multiple gold medals in gi and no gi competitions, joined the UFC in 2018.
Though she suffered her first MMA loss in her most recent bout, a decision defeat to Amanda Ribas at a UFC Fight Night event in Florida in October, 2019, she rebounded in style by submitting Hannah Cifers after two minutes and 36 seconds on Saturday.
Cifers began the fight with a strategy reliant on pressure, landing 11 of 31 strikes, but Dern eventually got her opponent to the ground, extended the knee, and made her compatriot tap with a kneebar — the first of its kind in UFC women's history.
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"I think that's a start, a good step forward in making history, showing my potential, that's really what I wanted," Dern said after her first round submission victory.
The fight against Ribas last year was her first since returning to sport following maternity leave, fighting four months after giving birth to her daughter.
"I came back from the pregnancy, I fought Amanda, I fought good with Amanda Ribas, but I wasn't able to really show how I was … Amanda was better than me that day," she said.
That she was able to score such a rare finish, in an area of combat she has exceled in throughout her career, sweetened her triumph, Dern said.
"I think nothing better than to do a submission that no one has ever done and show that, hey I'm a jiu-jitsu girl and yes I'm here and ready to be in the UFC."
She added: "I'm coming for the belt."
Serena Williams inspired Mackenzie Dern
"I don't know why people think being a mom is such a big thing," Dern told the media via remote link after her fight.
"Being a mom is great. The biggest thing is routine. With athletes, it's sleep, rest, and just being mentally there," she said.
Smiling, Dern added: "It's hard with a daughter, running around the house and when you're asleep she's, like, kicking you and wants to see you."
Dern then talked-up the 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams, who won the 2017 Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant, then returned to the sport in the following year.
She won her first tennis title since maternity leave earlier this year, beating Jessica Pegula in the final of the 2020 ASB Classic, a WTA tour event.
"I hope this proves to everyone … Serena Williams conquered so much being a mom so it's great to see moms proving ourselves," Dern said.
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