Mackenzie Dern picked up a first round submission win over Amanda Cooper on the main card of UFC 224.
The Brazilian came in 7 pounds overweight for the encounter and former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz says Dern basically cheated with the failed weight cut.
“That weight is a huge advantage,” Cruz said on the UFC 224 post-fight show. “There’s a reason, ladies and gentlemen, why we have weight classes. When you’re seven pounds over a weight class, that is not trying to make weight. That is creating yourself an advantage to win. Because in the end, how sad was Dern about the weight loss or being too heavy? She was just happy to have the win. That’s the point of this sport to win and when you come in with that big of a weight advantage, being a 45’er to a 35’er, being a 35’er to a 25’er, being a 85’er to a 70 pounder, that’s an advantage. That’s a huge advantage and it’s basically cheating in my opinion.”
Dern has competed a total of seven times as a professional MMA fighter, missing weight for three of those bouts. The undefeated fighter has also stated that she will go to the UFC Performance Center in the future to get the weight situation under control.
