Mackenzie Dern ended her European championships campaign with 2 silver medals last weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. The Brazilian-American daughter of Megaton Dias lost to Gabi Garcia in the Open weight final and Michelle Nicolini in the final of weight. She impressed all with her quickness, aggressiveness and fighting spirit.

She talked to Tatame about her performance:

“My participation in the European was not the way I wanted. I could not apply the tactic that I had in training. As a competitor, this is very frustrating: you give your best to prepare and fight time, it’s not enough. But when I saw that many people liked my fights and recognized how much I love being there on the mat, it was great! Without realizing it, I ended up earning more than medals or titles. I’m glad to hear that my matches encouraged people to train and to fight, ”

In the final of her weight class  she had a tough last second loss to Michelle Nicolini.

“It was very painful for me because I lost with less than 20 seconds. I tried to do everything in that fight: tried to play smart, attack a lot and keep my strategy but in the end I made ​​a mistake and I think the referee rushed to give the 3 points for Michelle. I was feeling good, did not feel the fatigue, but did not expect anything less than that. It is always a difficult fight against Michelle.

Mackenzie fought a much bigger Gabi Garcia in the Open weight final and succeeded in reversing her with a stiff arm sweep and even in taking her back and working for a choke. She eventually was reversed and submitted by Gabi.

“The truth is that my only training for Gabi is when I fight against her. I have no one in my gym that has the same game as her, every time I compete against her trying different things. I see which moves and positions help in the fight and which hinder. I always have an idea of ​​what I want to do in a fight, but against Gabi, I don’t really knowt. I just know that I want to win, then I will fight to end. If she submit me, okay, it’s a learning experience for the next time, ”

Mackenzie taking Gabi Garcia’s back

Mackenzie’s final message:

“I am eager to fight again soon to delete this frustration. I felt I gave my best, but I made mistakes that need fixing. My time is coming, this is only the beginning, ”