“I definitely didn’t look up to Ronda. Maybe it was just the personality part of it. I just never really connected with that type of personality. I’ve never met her in person, so I really don’t know how she is. She definitely opened the doors for women. When I saw everything that she was able to accomplish with her skills and everything else, it made me think that I could do this.
“I never looked at her as an inspiration. I want to be bigger than her. I want to be the best Mackenzie. I think I have a different image and I can be a different kind of role model. I have a different style to her, and I want to take that as far as possible.”
Ahead of her third professional MMA bout, the highly touted Mackenzie Dern kept it real when Sherdog.com asked her about Ronda Rousey’s role in her career.
For Dern, she’s been dubbed the next Ronda, but apparently that’s not someone she’s interested in following.
The guys also asked Dern about the added pressure she faces being compared to the sport’s biggest female star.
She stated,
“I think I had more attention going into my first fight than Ronda Rousey did. Even when she went pro, nobody really took her seriously until they started to realize that she was submitting her opponents in every single fight. There were so many eyes on me from the announcement to the first fight and then into the second fight. I’m lucky because I’ve always had the support of the jiu-jitsu community. I always feel like I’m representing them, and I don’t want to let them down.
“I think I’m growing with the added attention. I always seem to fight better at bigger events. I perform better when there is a lot of expectation on me.”
She’s confident, and she fights Friday Night for Legacy FC.
