UFC women’s strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern was praised by UFC commentator Daniel Cormier following her victory at UFC 330.
Dern defeated Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 330 to notch her first defense of the UFC women’s strawweight title since winning the vacant belt last fall against Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321.
Daniel Cormier Praises Mackenzie Dern
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Cormier, who called the fight from cageside, praised Dern’s performance against Robertson, suggesting that she showed massive improvements in her overall game.
“It was very evident very early that Robertson really didn’t have anything for Mackenzie. She dominated. She dominated the grappling. She dominated all areas of the fight, except for Round No. 5, where Gillian was able to get her down and keep her down for an extended period of time. I can’t say or take anything away from Mackenzie. I just don’t believe that she should give anyone, especially someone that she outclasses, anything positive to try to build off of. But all in all, she looked explosive. Her striking looked better. Obviously, her grappling is top notch, and she completely dominated and now has defended her strawweight championship in the UFC,” Cormier said (via MMAjunkie.com).
What’s Next for Mackenzie Dern Following UFC 330?
After cruising past an overmatched Robertson at UFC 330, the only fight that makes sense for Dern next is to take on former UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang, who really should have been fighting Dern instead of Robertson in the first place, but who couldn’t take the fight for whatever reason. But this fight absolutely has to be next.
Although Dern is the champion now, she will likely be a heavy underdog against Zhang, who is one of the most dangerous women’s MMA fighters of all time. Though Zhang is older and hasn’t been as active in recent years, she should have a massive striking advantage over Dern, so if she can keep the fight standing, then she will have no problem taking care of business against the champion, even though Dern has improved her striking skills, as Cormier noted on his podcast.
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