UFC strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern is not short on motivation heading into her first title defense against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 on August 15 in Philadelphia. Beyond the obvious stakes of keeping her belt, Dern has a personal edge she wants to satisfy on the mat.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dern made clear that Robertson’s habit of drawing comparisons between the two, specifically around submission grappling, has not gone unnoticed.
“She’s kind of been comparing herself a lot to me even before I was a champion,” Dern said. “She has more submissions than me and stuff like that… I just felt like she’s kind of throwing a little bit of shade or just kind of putting down all my accomplishments in jiu-jitsu, like as if I’m not this good jiu-jitsu athlete.”
Robertson currently holds the record for most submissions in UFC women’s divisions with seven, one more than Dern’s five. But Dern took issue with the weight Robertson places on that number, questioning whether it truly reflects elite-level grappling credentials.
“I’ve never seen her at any IBJJF tournaments. I’ve never seen her at ADCC. I’ve never seen her at any World Pro tournaments,” Dern said. “I’ve competed my whole life since I was three. I started training when I was three, competing when I was five. So there’s no way she can’t respect me.”
Dern was careful to acknowledge Robertson’s ability within the MMA context, noting her five-bout win streak. However, she drew a sharp line between MMA-level grappling and the world she comes from.
“I think she has good submissions against MMA girls,” Dern said. “I don’t think she would be able to hang with my training right now. I’m training with the top girls in IBJJF at the black belt level… I don’t even know what her belt is. I don’t know if she’s a black belt, purple belt, brown belt.”
Despite wanting the submission finish, Dern said she expects Robertson to try and keep the fight standing or use top control rather than engage in a ground exchange.
“I feel like she’s going to try to get a takedown, stay safe, maybe try and ground and pound and win the rounds like that,” Dern said. “But we’re definitely going to try not to let that happen.”
As for her prediction, Dern said she sees the match going deep, potentially into the championship rounds, before she gets her hand raised.
“I think I’ll get my hand raised in the fourth or fifth round,” she said. “I don’t know how, though.”
