Mackenzie Dern Looking to Slow Things Down After UFC 224

Mackenzie Dern spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of her fight with Amanda Cooper at UFC 224. Highlights from the interview are below:

On planning to slow down after this fight: “I’ve been doing a lot of fights lately. All the fights have been very fast. For sure, I want to be able to evolve the same speed as my fights. I think I’m fighting a little more than I’m evolving, but every fight is a different fight.”

On planning to taking a break: “If I have a lot of time or a short amount of time, no matter I’m going to have to face new challenges. For sure after this fight I’m going to want to take a break. It’s a little bit too much. But I couldn’t miss to fight in Brazil and I wasn’t injured, so as long as I’m not injured and I’m able to train and I’m feeling confident, than I will take the fight for sure.”

On Cooper underestimating her: “She doesn’t think I’m good at all, basically. I think Ashley was a harder opponent than her. Ashley was like southpaw, tall. Most of Ashley’s losses were by decision, she never lost by submission. All of Amanda’s losses are by submission, so I think that the fight with Amanda is going to be a good matchup with me. It’s going to be way easier than against Ashley. I think it’s OK. She’s going to be fight me, she needs to be confident. If she shows me she’s not worried about something than I’m going to feel better. It’s OK that she thinks that, but she’s been submitted, so I think her ground needs to get better before you say about my ground.”