UFC women’s strawweight Mackenzie Dern made her sophomore octagon performance over the weekend. Following controversy concerning the fighter’s missed weight, Dern has now come forward with a message.
Dern faced off against Amanda Cooper in a catchweight match up at UFC 224 on Saturday, May 12, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dern ultimately earned a first round submission victory over her opponent.
Hitting the scales for the official weigh-ins ahead of the fight, Dern missed her mark by 7.4 pounds. Over seven pounds overweight for the fight, Dern was left in a tough situation. However Cooper accepted a catchweight bout against the fighter, saving the match from being removed off the fight card.
Dern has missed weight two other times in her mixed martial arts career. Now the undefeated 7-0 fighter has come forward with a statement concerning her latest missed weight.
Taking to Instagram, Dern stated:
“I want to first thank Amanda @abcnation115 Cooper for taking the fight against me this Saturday at UFC224. How most of you know, I missed weight and thankfully, Amanda and the UFC allowed the fight to happen. I know was unprofessional and I truley didn’t mean any disrespect to my opponent, organization or the fans.
“I really learned a lot from this and I know this is just making me a better fighter/athlete for the future. I appreciate all the messages and support from all of you and I can say that everything is already in the works with the help of the UFC to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
