With BJJ still being considered an amateur sport, many sport BJJ competitors look to transitioning to MMA.Examples of current top MMA fighters that came from sport Jiu-Jitsu: Jose Aldo, Fabricio Werdum, Ronaldo Jacare, Demian Maia, Bibiano Fernandes etc..
After Rodolfo Vieira, and Marcus Buchecha, the latest BJJ competitor to officially announce their transition to MMA is none other than Mackenzie Dern. 2015’s grappler of the year made the announcement on her Facebook page today:
Im so lucky to have these girl helping my MMA transition!! They are great training partners and I am so happy to call them my friends ! RFA 115lb Champion @mmajocelyn & UFC 135lb fighter @laurenmurphymma.
Mackenzie Dern is the daughter of ‘Megaton’ Dias. Incredibly, she started competing in the adult divisions of tournaments at the age of 14!
2015 was an amazing year for Mackenzie Dern. She won the Pan, World Pro at weight and Absolute, the Worlds, silver at Europeans and now the ADCC!
At only 22, Mackenzie Dern is following in the footsteps of her fiancee Augusto Tanquinho in transitioning to MMA. She would probably compete at straw weight.
