Mackenzie Dern has heard the Ronda Rousey comparisons before, and now her world champion teammate is predicting big things.
Former UFC lightweight king Benson "Smooth" Henderson appeared on The MMA Hour Monday, and couldn't help but brag about Dern's potential now that she's embarking on an MMA career.
"She will be bigger than Ronda Rousey before Ronda Rousey lost," Henderson said, according to Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting. "She's going to be huge. She's going to be big. She has an excellent work ethic.
"Go look her up, she is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion. She's won (the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship). She's won Worlds. She's the current No. 1 ranked female jiu-jitsu practitioner on the planet ... She definitely needs to work on her MMA skills, but her ground game is phenomenal. Any woman on the planet goes to the ground with Mackenzie and Mackenzie is going to tap her, or dominate her like she did her first opponent."
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The 23-year-old Dern made her MMA debut on July 22, with a lopsided decision win over Kenia Rosas at Legacy Fighting Championships 58. The jiu-jitsu prodigy trapped Rosas in several deep submissions and while she didn't get a finish, observers were effusive in praise of her performance.
All the pieces are in place for Dern to blossom. Her father is jiu-jitsu legend Wellington "Megaton" Dias, her boyfriend is BJJ ace Augusto "Tanquinho" Mendes, and she's training at Henderson's respected MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz.
"Smooth" lauded Dern for her martial arts prowess and her likability, which he believes will translate into superstardom.
"Because her fundamentals are so strong, it allows her to do some fancier stuff on the ground, and then because her fundamentals are so strong, it allows her to do well in MMA also," Henderson said. "I think her working her butt off, staying grounded in the MMA world, getting better, growing, she's super young, she's going to be a big huge star.
"In 10 years you'll see her in movies and stuff and she's going to do great. She's going to be awesome."
