Mackenzie Dern recently discussed the unique challenges women face in the grappling world.

In an interview on Alex Wendling’s podcast, Dern emphasized the struggles female athletes endure to gain recognition in a male-dominated sport:

There’s always that kind of thing where they don’t really take you seriously because you’re a woman.
They focus more on how you look than on what’s actually happening and how hard we’re working.

It has its advantages, but…

We can use that to our advantage, though, because people might watch us just because we’re women.
But it also makes us push even harder to earn respect for our technique and all the hard work we put in.

However, Dern thinks that things are slowly changing for the better, while also stressing out the importance of women standing side-by-side:

I think the guys are starting to get it.
They’re really beginning to understand how professional we are during camps and training.

We have women standing up, fighting for higher pay, and making sure they get the business side right.
If we don’t stand up for what we want, they might just offer us something like $200.

So, it’s really important that we all come together, support each other, and make sure we’re treated fairly.