Mackenzie Dern Addresses Missing Weight for UFC 224

Speaking at the post-fight press conference at UF 224, undefeated fighter Mackenzie Dern addressed her missing weight for the fight card. Dern submitted Amanda Cooper in their fight, but Dern weighed in eight pounds heavy for the bout. The fight still went forward, but Dern was penalized 30 percent of her purse, which went to Cooper. Below are some highlights (transcript h/t MMAjunkie). 411’s live results and coverage of the event are available RIGHT HERE.

Dern on how UFC will want her to move up in weight and is willing to help her: “They’ve already told me that even without a fight, they’re going to tell me in a couple months that I’m going to need to make weight. But that’s what I need. Not that it’s not important to me, but I believe in what they’re offering me. I’m going to take their help.”

Mackenzie Dern on what went wrong with her weight cut: “My mind was fine – I was conscious. But there was a point where the weight wasn’t going away any more. … The fact that I was able to do it before, I thought I knew what I was doing. A lot of things have been happening. It’s not an excuse. I missed flights and a lot of things happened, and I just kept going and going. Since the first day I got here, the UFC was trying to help me and was saying I’d be able to make weight, and I did it last time.”

Mackenzie Dern on how ashamed she feels: “I’m ashamed of that; I don’t want that to happen again. But it’s a mistake. Not that one thing is worse than the other, but I don’t take steroids. I wasn’t popped for anything. There are champions that are caught for drugs and cocaine and things like that. For me, it’s a mistake. The UFC is investing in me, and I’m going to work with them to not ever have that happen again.”