What Degree Black Belt Is UFC Star Mackenzie Dern? All We Know About Her Jiu-Jitsu Career

The year 2024 wasn’t a pretty smooth one for the famed UFC strawweight Mackenzie Dern in terms of her professional career. After facing some relationship problems in 2023 where Dern had to go through the grueling process of providing alimony to her husband Wesley Santos since their divorce in late 2022. But she never gave up working towards improving her skills, but 2024 was a mixed bag for the Brazilian-American. Dern lost one fight but won the other.

Most fans may know that Dern is a well-established BJJ athlete as well. She has also won several coveted international BJJ tournaments, including the noted ADCC and IBJJF Gi Championships. She showcased her superb ground game in her UFC Vegas 73 fight, which had her coach convinced to award her with a BJJ belt of the next level. Some fans might know that Dern already holds a black belt in BJJ. But do you know what the latest upgrade in her BJJ black belt level was that her coach awarded to her?

What BJJ belt does Mackenzie Dern hold?

Most UFC fans are well aware of the fact that the noted UFC star, Nate Diaz, possesses a high-level ground game. His prowess in BJJ becomes quite understandable after looking at the current rank that he holds, as per the BJJ playbook. As of now, Diaz holds a third-degree black belt in BJJ. Likewise, Mackenzie Dern was also awarded a similar upgrade to her BJJ belt by her coach earlier this year after her UFC Vegas 73 fight. Like the Stockton native, Dern also holds a third-degree black belt in BJJ currently.

A look at the results of all of her MMA to date will provide the fans with an idea about how good she is on the ground. The Brazilian-American has achieved 7 of her 14 career wins via submissions, which provides her with a superb recording of gaining 50% of her total wins by submission. And guess what? Even though Dern lost a few fights in her career, she never got submitted even once.

Now let us take a deeper look into Mackenzie Dern’s training and the gym she’s associated with.

Where does Mackenzie Dern train BJJ?

Mackenzie Dern has been a part of more than just one team in her MMA career. Those gyms include – MMA Lab, Black House MMA, and Checkmat RVCA. But when it comes to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the 31-year-old has always been on her father’s team, Team Megaton. The name ‘Megaton’ is a moniker her father, Wellington Dias, garnered during his years as a BJJ practitioner and competitor.

Moreover, since the inception of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships in 1996, Mackenzie Dern’s father has been the only black belt holder to compete in every edition of the tournament. He successfully passed his prowess in grappling to his daughter, who won multiple gold medals across several international competitions, which is what led her to start her MMA journey.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie Dern has a big fight coming up against a familiar foe, Amanda Ribas. The Arizona-born fighter struggled to get a win last time out, and she’ll be looking to right the wrongs at UFC Vegas 101 when both of these women lock horns for the second time. What do you predict for this fight on January 11? Drop your comments below.