Mackenzie Dern showed up to the red carpet premiere of Beast as UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion and while the event was centered around film the Brazilian American strawweight had plenty to say about her career her next bout and what life looks like now that she sits at the top of the division.
On being at a movie premiere as champion Dern was genuinely enthusiastic about the moment. She told interviewer:
“To be like UFC champion and to be able to support our MMA films and things like that I’m really happy to be here and to see some of my fellow colleagues from the UFC. It’s really cool.”
When the conversation turned to training Dern did not downplay how demanding her preparation is.
“It’s intense. I mean it’s like a regular job but you know in between so I do it all day long. I have like even my rest is technically part of my training. So yeah it’s really intense. For me the training is harder”
As for what comes next in her career Dern made clear that a title defense is the priority.
“I’m hoping I get scheduled soon. I’m training for the beginning of June to be ready by then. So any day after that and whoever they decide to give me.”
When asked about a dream opponent Dern pointed toward Gillian Robertson a name that might surprise some fans.
“I won the belt against Viana who she was on a win streak. So I’m kind of good at stopping people’s win streaks.”
And on the possibility of her own acting career Dern left the door open while keeping it honest.
“I’ve been offered a couple things but nothing that I felt like had fit my personality yet or that I felt confident enough to be able to take on that role. But if they have something where I can be all like nice and then kick your butt at the same time then I’m good because I’m not really good at being like mean.”
