UFC Fight Night 224 winner Mackenzie Dern says fighting Rose Namajunas ‘a priority’

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.