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Mackenzie Dern outgrapples Gillian Robertson to win lackluster title fight in UFC 330 co-main event

Published

3 months ago

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Mackenzie Dern outgrapples Gillian Robertson to win lackluster title fight in UFC 330 co-main event

Mackenzie Dern successfully defended her strawweight title with a largely one-sided but somewhat lackluster outing against Gillian Robertson in the UFC 330 co-main event.

Takedowns and submission attempts ruled the day for Dern as she came close to finishing Robertson a couple of times during the fight but she mostly just maintained control and showed she was the superior grappler. Robertson really didn't produce any offense until the final round and even then she just managed to stay in control on the ground without really damaging Dern.

When it was over the judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 with Dern getting the unanimous decision victory.

“I'm super happy,†Dern said about her win. “My first title win I got taken down a lot of times so I've been working on my wrestling. I'm still the champion. I definitely wanted to submit her, that was the goal. I try to get submissions in all my fights. I wish I could do some more damage to set up the submissions.â€

A striking exchange led to Robertson shooting for a takedown but Dern countered effectively before the strawweights separated again. Dern was very effective with her combinations including a stiff leg kick that kept chipping away at Robertson's base.

A moment later, Dern scored her first takedown and she immediately began raining down punches before advancing to half-guard. That led to Dern briefly looking for a kimura but she maintained a dominant position and eventually taking the back.

Dern quickly snatched a rear-naked choke and it looked like the fight was over but Robertson stayed tough and she survived until the horn sounded to end the round.

On the restart, Dern immediately took Robertson to the ground again and she was quick to start setting up submissions. A second later, Dern took the back and tried an unorthodox arm triangle choke that ended up with Robertson getting on top, although she was still stuck playing defense with the champion constantly attacking with submission attempts.

Robertson did manage to connect with some solid uppercuts when she finally grabbed onto Dern in the clinch but she just wasn't able to do much damage. Dern was still landing solid punches of her own including a stiff jab that was constantly finding Robertson's chin.

As soon as Robertson got a little too aggressive, Dern countered with a takedown to bring the fight back to her world on the canvas. Time ran out before she could do much of anything but Dern still exerted her superior control whenever she turned to her grappling.

Dern snatched another takedown in the fourth round and quickly moved to take the back while locking on the body triangle. From there, Dern kept searching for the rear-naked choke but she just couldn't secure the submission.

With five minutes remaining, Robertson finally secured a takedown of her own but she just couldn't produce much offense with Dern defending from the bottom. That's effectively how the whole round played out with Dern immediately celebrating her victory after the final horn sounded.

Dern now has a title defense on her resume as she awaits her next challenge with former champion Zhang Weili as the most desired opponent if she decides to compete again at 115 pounds.

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MMA

Tatiana Suarez reveals what she took away from past title fight loss to Zhang Weili

Published

9 hours ago

on

November 5, 2026

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Tatiana Suarez reveals what she took away from past title fight loss to Zhang Weili
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UFC star Tatiana Suarez has taken a look back at what she was able to learn from her title loss to Zhang Weili ahead of her return.

In early 2025, Tatiana Suarez fell to her first loss in professional mixed martial arts at the hands of Zhang Weili. Since then, however, she has done a pretty good job of rebuilding herself, with victories over Amanda Lemos and Loopy Godinez.

RELATED: Tatiana Suarez believes she is right back in title conversation after UFC 327

Ahead of her fight against Virna Jandiroba this weekend, Tatiana Suarez has been reflecting on what went down against Zhang Weili. Of course, a loss is always hard to take, but it can often help you become an even better version of yourself.

In an interview, Tatiana Suarez had the following to say on the matter.

Tatiana Suarez reflects on former title fight defeat

“I took a lot from that fight, obviously – um, I guess it's not obvious, because not everybody does that, but I'm sure you have to,†Suarez said. “There's just no way you don't take anything from a loss, you know? For me, it's helped me in a lot of ways mentally. Obviously, it's helped me understand things that I also have to improve on, and more so the mindset of it all. Up until that point, I've never faced any adversity in a fight. So, that was the first time I've ever had to face any type of adversity, and I never stopped coming. I always kept trying, so that's something to be said as well.

“So it does show me that I always just never quit. I'm never just going to be like, ‘OK, I'm done.' She hit me with some good shots, and I just kept coming forward. But I think more importantly, I just feel like being a skilled fighter and having the fight IQ is important when you have big fights like that. So, that's what I definitely learned out there as well is like being smarter and fighting smarter.â€

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Will Suarez compete for a UFC world title again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

Dana White defends Dan Miragliotta over stand-up in Moicano vs. Nolan bout

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 5, 2026

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Dana White defends Dan Miragliotta over stand-up in Moicano vs. Nolan bout
Dana
White has addressed veteran referee Dan Miragliotta's
controversial stand-up in the Renato
“Money†Moicano vs. Tom Nolan
bout.

Moicano suffered a third-round stoppage loss to Nolan at
UFC Vegas 123 on Oct. 31. However, the fight was marred by
controversy when Miragliotta stood the fighters up for inactivity
while Moicano had Nolan's back in the second round. While it's very
rare for a referee to intervene when a fighter has his opponent's
back, White defended Miragliotta's call.

Why Dana White believes Dan Miragliotta made the right
call

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO says that, under the
ruleset, damage is the key factor in stand-ups, not holding
position. White notes that some grapplers can ride their opponent's
back for three rounds and says the referee is right to intervene if
the fighter in a dominant position isn't trying to land damage or
advance position.

“I don't think it's about dominant position,†White said during a
media scrum captured by TheMacLife. “It's about, are you doing
damage or not, trying to win the fight? Some of these guys are so
good, they can f*cking take your back and ride it out for three
rounds. The rules are, if you’re not doing damage or trying to
advance your position, or trying to win the fight, you get stood
up.â€

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MMA

Aaron Pico reveals ideal next opponents but admits ‘I really don’t give a sh*t’ who UFC gives me

Published

1 day ago

on

November 4, 2026

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Aaron Pico reveals ideal next opponents but admits ‘I really don’t give a sh*t’ who UFC gives me

Aaron Pico isn't in the business of picking and choosing his fights.

After he was supposed to face Arnold Allen at UFC 333, and ultimately faced top prospect Losene Keita instead, Pico never lost any sleep about going from a ranked opponent to a newcomer with only two UFC fights on his resume. In the end, Pico delivered a vicious first-round knockout to improve his own UFC record to 2-1 and now he's ready for the next step towards his ultimate goal of becoming champion.

Pico admits there are some ideal opponents out there for him as he looks ahead to what comes next.

“I think anybody ahead of me in the ranking,†Pixo told MMA Fighting. “I'm definitely going to be watching the Aljamain [Sterling] fight very closely. That's always a possibility. But Lerone Murphy, I'd love to fight him as well. I have no hard feelings against him other than he beat me, and I'd love to avenge that loss. I think fought I really dumb, and he got very, very lucky. But a lot of blessings came after that loss so I'm OK with it.

“We'll see how the Kevin Vallejos and Aljamain Sterling fight goes and if everything goes smooth and no injuries with those guys, maybe that's a possibility of fighting the winner of that. Can't have that, I'd love to run it back with Lerone Murphy. We'll have to see.â€

Of course, Murphy scored a knockout win over Pico in his octagon debut so it's understandable why that rematch offers so much interest to the former Bellator fighter.

That said, Pico makes it clear that he's not in the business of turning down fights much less being that selective when it comes to his opponents.

Much like accepting the Keita fight with the knowledge that it was a high risk, low reward situation, Pico just doesn't like the idea of picking and choosing his opponents even if the person he's fighting doesn't have a number next to their name.

“I'm just speaking honestly from the heart, I'm just going to let you know how I feel. I don't really look at the rankings or anything like that,†Pico said. “Of course, I'm like oh this guy is No. 5 or this guy is No. 10. I'm truly in the mindset I'm after one thing and that's to be the best fighter in the world and fight the best in the world.

“Of course, I have a manager and I let him handle a lot of things and I tell him ‘who do you want me to fight?' and I always tell my family this, when I'm 60 years old in my rocking chair at my ranch, I want to be able to say I fought whoever they threw at me. I really don't give a shit. Some guys are like ‘I can't fight him because he's No. 10 or No. 12 and I'm No. 4.' I truly don't even look at that.

Pico would love nothing more than to have the chance to climb up the featherweight ladder and eventually fight for the title but he's not going to turn down fights just because an opponent doesn't logically make sense.

“I'm of the mindset right now, I am a beginner and I'm trying to learn as much as I possibly can,†Pico said. “I know I have to fight the best guys in the world. Yeah, of course, it's going to be a little bit scary. Of course, I'm a little bit nervous going into fights and training camps, but that just is what it is.

“I'm comfortable with that. If I fight a guy that's not ranked, it just is what it is. I know if I have that mindset, the belt will come sooner than later.â€

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