Randa Markos will be taking on Angela Hill this Saturday on the UFC Nashville prelims, but she almost had a different opponent, none other than rising strawweight star Mackenzie Dern. Markos claims that the UFC offered her Dern and that she gladly accepted and already even had a game plan for the bout:
“For a gameplan against Mackenzie, I was thinking about keeping the fight on the feet, Markos told MMAjunkie. “Her takedowns are not that great, so I had to make sure she didn’t take me down, and I feel like I had a stronger top game than her.”
Randa Markos will not have an opportunity to implement these plans, as she will instead be taking on Angela Hill, who presents a completely different skill set than what Markos was preparing for in Mackenzie Dern:
“They gave me Angela Hill, and she doesn’t like to go to the ground. She’s very good at standing back up, so it’s a very, very different gameplan.”
Randa Markos most recently fought to a majority draw against Marina Rodriguez last September. Prior to that, she lost to #3-ranked Nina Ansaroff. Mackenzie Dern would have been an buzzworthy challenge for Markos to attempt to get back in the win column, and though she will not be meeting Dern next, Markos would still love to meet Dern in the future.
“She’s awesome,” Markos said of Dern. “She’s proven herself, and I’d definitely take that fight.”
Do you believe Randa Markos would have had better odds to defeat Mackenzie Dern or Angela Hill?
