This week the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made changes to their official rankings and one of the fighters impacted in the strawweight division was jiu-jitsu sensation Mackenzie Dern. Here’s a look at the current rankings which no longer include the California native.
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez +3
10 Cortney Casey
11 Alexa Grasso -2
12 Randa Markos -1
13 Nina Ansaroff +1
14 Joanne Calderwood -1
15 Angela Hill *NR
Dern (7-0) is coming off a first-round submission win over Amanda Cooper at UFC 224 in Brazil and was initially placed in the #15 spot following that victory. Fans and fighters were outraged to see her crack the Top 15, mainly due to the fact Dern missed weight in that fight by a staggering seven-pounds. One of the fighters most upset about her unprofessional antics was fellow strawweight Angela Hill who posted this to Twitter at the time.
Well this is a big fat slap in the face. I’ve fought top competition, beat #14 and the rankings finally grace me with #15 ranking, just to get bumped by a fucking Flyweight. pic.twitter.com/ZYlP5Ogs6w
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) May 17, 2018
Looks like Hill got her wish. Here is how the rankings are determined via UFC.com
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Dern signed with the UFC at the beginning of this year after amassing an impressive 5-0 record with both the Legacy/LFA and Invicta FC promotions. Despite being undefeated, she’s struggled with making the 115-pound limit as she’s now missed weight in three of her seven career fights.
Do you think Mackenzie Dern should have a place in the UFC Women’s Strawweight Rankings? Comment below and let us know what you think!
