UFC strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern is preparing to defend her title against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 in Philadelphia, but the location has raised questions about the promotion’s treatment of champions. During a recent interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Dern couldn’t help but address the unusual choice of event location.
“I’ll be in her home,” Dern remarked when discussing the August 15th bout.
Okamoto acknowledged the elephant in the room, noting that the UFC previously floated Macau as a potential location when Zhang Weili was involved, and now Dern finds herself traveling to Robertson’s backyard.
“It’s like when where’s the respect for the champion here?” Robertson questioned, highlighting what she sees as an inconsistency in how the organization honors title holders.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt captured the strawweight title in October and initially wanted to defend it immediately.
“I really got the sense like you would have jumped in and defended it the very next week,” Okamoto observed. However, the 10-month layoff gave Dern time to adjust to life as champion and elevate her training to new heights.
“I train like a champion,” Dern explained when asked about her evolution since winning the belt. “Once I became the champion I just came back into the gym and then everything was flowing and everything was you kind of just trust the process easier.”
She credited newfound confidence for eliminating the self-doubt that previously plagued her training sessions.
“I’m an overthinker. So it just helped me kind of trust in myself and my training just got way more it got better. It got a lot better.”
Dern’s preparation has focused on three key areas: strength training to handle the grueling championship camps, wrestling to prevent opponents from stealing rounds through control, and striking with emphasis on footwork and head movement.
She anticipates Robertson will employ a similar strategy to Virna Jandiroba, who found success with takedowns in their title match, though Dern believes Robertson will be more aggressive on the ground.
“I think Gillian will do more than Virna,” Dern said. “I feel like Gillian will try to like you know hug my head, try to get to like half guard, try to pass my guard, try to get the back, and in ground and pound, and open up a little bit.”
The champion also acknowledged that defending the belt brings a different mentality.
“You feel a little bit not offended, but I mean just everyone’s calling you out, you know,” she said, describing the possessive feeling she has toward her championship.
While Dern remains focused on Robertson, she admitted that Zhang Weili lingers in the background.
“She’s back in my mind all the time during training,” Dern revealed, suggesting the potential superfig ht remains an eventual target regardless of where the UFC decides to book it.
