Mackenzie Dern was considered one of the top female Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors globally for a period of time, and she recently revealed plans to return to the sport in 2024. With Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias as her father, she was always involved in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from a young age, emerging as one of the sports top prospects after winning the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation World Championship at each belt level.

She was promoted to black belt by her father in 2012 and quickly became one of the best in the world, frequently placing on the podium at major IBJJF tournaments globally within her weight class and in the open/absolute division. Her first world title came in 2014 when winning the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship. She captured her first gi world title the following year, which was also when she won an Abu Dhabi Combat Club world title.
Dern transitioned to Mixed Martial Arts in 2015 and competed in grappling events for a period but decided to fully focus on her MMA career after 2017. This proved wise as she moved to a 5-0 record and was signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship the following year. She has steadily climbed the strawweight rankings since, currently holding a professional MMA record of 13 wins and 4 losses with 7 submission victories. Dern had hinted at a desire to again compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recently, but this is the first time setting an actual date to return to the sport, targeting the end of 2024.

She announced her return to BJJ competitions in a instagram story:

“When I come back to Jiu Jitsu I’m planning on coming back starting with no gi. I’m trying to get a comeback this year, by the end of the year. At the end of the year, I have a specific event that I want to do. So I’m already starting kinda training for that and yeah, I’m excited!”