Decorated BJJ specialist Mackenzie Dern (4-0) made her Invicta FC debut in the early hours of this morning with a solid victory over the experienced veteran, Kaline Medeiros (8-5).
As the co-main event on the Invicta 26 card in Kansas City, a lot of attention was focused on the 24-year old. Fighting out of the MMA Lab in Phoenix, Arizona, Dern was pitted against the durable 38-year old Brazilian, Medeiros. With an Invicta title fight under her belt, the level of competition put in front of Dern for her debut shows the expectancy and promise surrounding her.
In a scheduled 3 round fight in the strawweight division, Dern looked calm and composed throughout. With a noticeable improvement in her striking, Dern was throwing heavy over-hand rights, followed by high kicks from the off. Medeiros was understandably wary of taking this one to the ground and quickly avoided any clinches in the early exchanges.
With a similar pattern in the second, Medeiros’ intensity seemed to fade and going into the 3rd, Dern appeared to be 2 rounds up. Looking like it was going the distance, Dern utilised her BJJ expertise when she took the victory with 15 seconds remaining via an armbar.
Whatever you may think about Dern, she is a highly promising prospect in the strawweight division and with her team at MMA Lab behind her, including former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, Dern should have a very exciting and promising MMA career ahead of her.