Dern (left) suffered, but won in his UFC debut. Photo: Reproduction / Disclosure / Instagram UFC
It was more painful than expected, but Mackenzie dern debuted in Ultimate with victory. The Brazilian-American arrived at the octagon with the morale to become the 'new Ronda Rousey'. Beautiful, undefeated and specialist in submissions. But his debut in the octagon was difficult. The hard Ashley yoder, was coming off two consecutive defeats, but the game became tougher for the black belt, who only got the win via a split decision from the judges. The fight closed the preliminary card of UFC 222, an event that takes place this Saturday (03), in Las Vegas (USA).
Brazil had another representative in the opening program of UFC 222. The São Paulo native Peter Munhoz lost his series of consecutive victories against the tough John Dodson, in the judges' split decision.
Mackenzie Dern suffers, but wins…
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With excitement! This is how the debut of Mackenzie dern in the octagon. A specialist in ground fighting, the two-time jiu-jitsu world champion began the fight by taking risks in exchanging blows. Dern, even without boxing technique, showed courage and walked forward throwing hard punches. Yoder was unable to respond to the fighter's attacks, who was born in the USA, but is the daughter of Brazilian Welligton Megaton. Mackenzie still tried to take him down on a few occasions, but Ashley defended all the attacks.
In the second round, Dern maintained his plan of moving forward and putting pressure on Yoder. But the American took advantage of the gap left by the newcomer in the stand-up fight. She connected with a straight shot and took down the black belt, who got up quickly. From then on, Yoder made use of his greater wingspan to control the distance, frustrating Dern
The third round followed the same path in favor of Yoder. The American thwarted Mackenzie's takedown attempts and kept the contest in the middle distance. But in the final 90 seconds, Mackenzie pulled a rabbit out of the hat. She managed to knock Yoder down and quickly get to his back. The Brazilian-American launched blows to her rival's head and came close to a choke, but Ashley avoided the rear naked choke in every way until the bell sounded.
At end, Mackenzie dern was declared the winner in a split decision by the judges (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
“It was good to show that I can also change, and that I'm not just a jiu-jitsu fighter. Of course the ground is my home, but I’m happy with the way the victory happened,” he said. Mackenzie dern after the fight.
Pedrinho fights hard, but loses to Dodson
The climb of Peter Munhoz in the bantamweight division was interrupted at UFC 222. The Brazilian, who had come from four consecutive victories, stopped in front of John Dodson. In a balanced fight, the North American won a split decision from the judges (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).
The fight began with Pedrinho taking the initiative in the fight. In turn, Dodson showed good speed to escape the Brazilian's attacks and was always dangerous on the counterattack. Munhoz abused kicks from the waist line, but in most of the attacks, John held the attack and connected the counterattack.
The Brazilian came back pressing in the second round, but the North American avoided being in the action range. Without giving up on the plan, Pedrinho continued walking forward and had his good moment when he landed a good combination and Dodson started to bleed. In the final minute, Munhoz grew in the dispute and connected good blows.
Pedrinho tried to maintain his good momentum in the third round, but Dodson regained his agility and didn't stop in front of the Brazilian. The North American still connected quick strikes and opened the front on the cards. In the final minute, Munhoz went all or nothing and managed to take down the American. Dodson, however, quickly got to his knees and didn't let Munhoz advance on the ground. The São Paulo native ended up giving up and going for a frank exchange in the final 10 seconds, in which both fighters landed hard blows, but neither managed the knockout.
UFC 222 preliminary card results
Straw weight: Mackenzie dern derrotou Ashley yoder in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lightweight: Alexander Hernandez derrotou Beneil Dariush by knockout 42s into R1
Bantamweight: John Dodson derrotou Peter Munhoz in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Middleweight: CB Dollaway defeated Hector Lombard due to disqualification 5m from R1
Welterweight: Zak Ottow defeated Mike pyle by technical knockout at 2m34s of R1
Bantamweight: cody stmann derrotou Bryan caraway in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Light heavyweight: Jordan Johnson defeated Adam Milstead via unanimous decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
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