LAS VEGAS – Rose Namajunas is Mackenzie Dern’s No. 1 option after UFC Fight Night 224.
Dern (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) scored a dominant decision win over Angela Hill in Saturday’s strawweight main event at the UFC Apex. She called out Namajunas (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in her post-fight octagon interview with Michael Bisping.
Dern explains that she’d love to have a former champion on her resume, and thinks their ground games would match up well against each other. Dern earned her third-degree jiu-jitsu blackbelt after defeating Hill.
“I follow her on social media too and I think she did like an ADCC regional or something like that,” Dern told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC Fight Night 224 post-event news conference. “I mean I’m a former ADCC champion, so for me, I’m always happy when I see the MMA girls doing jiu-jitsu and things like that.
“So, definitely for sure to fight Rose is a priority of mine right now. I think it would be a great fight, a good main event, and a good test for both of us. So, when I see her training her jiu-jitsu, I’m like it’s not gonna be an easy fight, but I think it could be a great fight for the public and for us.”
Former two-time UFC strawweight champion Namajunas hasn’t competed since losing her belt in a lackluster decision against Carla Esparza last May. Prior to that, she scored back-to-back wins over current champion Zhang Weili.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
UFC Fight Night 224 winner Mackenzie Dern says fighting Rose Namajunas ‘a priority’
