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Benson Henderson on Mackenzie Dern: “Bigger Than Ronda Rousey”

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Meet Mackenzie Dern. She’s been taking the BJJ world by storm, and has recently made the transition over to MMA. She’s been training with former UFC Benson Henderson, who has some high-priase for her work ethic and her potential in the world of MMA.
06_mackenzie_dern She’s a super legit grappler, and she’s trouble once she gets you to the ground. Does that sound familiar at all? Obviously, any lady that gets into MMA and has star potential is going to get the comparison to Ronda, but Benson says that Dern could be much bigger than Ronda was, even during her prime – before she lost the belt.




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Benson Henderson went on to say: 

“Mackenzie’s game is great for MMA because her fundamentals are so strong. 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. 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.”

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That’s high-praise coming from a former UFC champion. He does go on to discuss how having a lot of hype around you can be a gift, and a curse at the same time. You’re immediately thrust into the spotlight without having more time to develop your game, and people tend to cling on to first impressions, so the stakes are very high for somebody who is still new to MMA. However, when you’ve got that many eyes on you, and if you’re able to live up to the hype, that’s the kind of thing that sends your fame and your career into the stratosphere.

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Ronda pulled off some huge wins with a lot of people watching. She was at 900,000 buys when she beat Bethe, and then 1,100,000 PPV buys for her fight with Holly Holm. In other words, the sky is the limit for whoever comes around and becomes the next huge name in women’s MMA.

Mackenzie made her MMA debut this past July with a great showing against Kenia Rosas, which resulted in a unanimous decision win for the BJJ wizard.


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