Chael Sonnen often finds it frustrating when fighters do not capitalize on the moment by making the most out of their time in the spotlight. As one of the greatest talkers in the history of the sport, “The Bad Guy” was recently critical of one athlete in particular for this side of their personality and public persona.
Mackenzie Dern came out on top in the first UFC main event of 2025 when she avenged her loss to Amanda Ribas this past weekend. It was an important win for the #6-ranked contender who, with an armbar in the third round, became the first person to submit Brazil’s Ribas in her pro career.
When she was handed the floor in her post-fight interview, Dern spoke about wanting to add to her submission record as she shared the cage with her young daughter. When the conversation turned to what target she is pursuing next, the 31-year old said that her main focus is on building momentum by getting another win under her belt and whilst she would prefer to fight an opponent that is ranked higher than her, she admitted that this might not be possible because she has faced many of the top names in the division in the past.
On a recent episode of ESPN MMA’s Good Guy/Bad Guy alongside Daniel Cormier, Sonnen was fairly negative towards the submission specialist for not placing more emphasis on the entertainment side of the sport by being more assertive.
“I could not go back over Mackenzie’s career and hand her one compliment on anything she’s done from an entertainment aspect,” Sonnen said. “I couldn’t tell you one time she had a microphone in her hand and turned it into a pipe bomb. I could not tell you one opportunity that she pushed everybody else aside and came and got it for herself.”
Sonnen believes that whilst she does appear to win fans over, Dern doesn’t do anything intentionally to drive her own stock which he finds baffling.
“I’ve never seen Mackenzie get it right. Everyone likes her, myself included, everyone seems to be rooting for her for reasons I really can’t explain to you, myself included.
“She looks like she does really care about this sport. She talks about some of her hardships and things outside the ring which do compel you very much to her, but as far as understanding what makes dollars has got to make sense, she doesn’t know what any of those words mean. I’ve never seen a second-generation athlete so unaware of the sport that’s going on around them.”
