Dern misses strawweight limit for 3rd time in career, this time by 7 pounds
Mackenzie Dern continued her struggles with the strawweight limit at the official weigh-ins for UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday.
Related: Nunes, Pennington make weight for UFC 224; Dern misses big
Dern checked in at 123 pounds for her fight against Amanda Cooper, 7 pounds above the non-title threshold. Cooper hit the mark on the number and will proceed with the fight at the catchweight level, but Dern will forfeit 30 percent of her show money, according to Fernanda Prates of MMA Junkie. The full amount will be given to Cooper.
Grappling star Mackenzie Dern missed weight for her #UFC224 strawweight bout with Amanda Cooper, she registered 123 pounds on the scale. https://t.co/sus2swXtXy pic.twitter.com/sGvrDkJWOi
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 11, 2018
Dern's considered a rising star in the UFC, sporting an MMA record of 6-0-0 in her young career. She hit weight and defeated Ashley Yoder in her Octagon debut at UFC 222 in March, but had previously missed the strawweight limit in two of five bouts before joining the UFC.
One of those fights was changed to a catchweight clash at 120 pounds the day before the weigh-ins.
Cooper won't be letting her off easy.
Not shocked @MackenzieDern missed weight but 7.4lbs over is a disgrace to all professionals. She’s not getting out of this fight that easy. Fight is still on. ABCNation get ready. #ufc224 strawweight vs flyweight tomorrow night in Brazil
— Amanda Bobby Cooper (@ABCnation115) May 11, 2018
It's a well-known issue throughout the UFC community, and one that will not be going away with Dern's latest miss in Brazil.
"I'm on my seventh fight now and I feel like, 'Man, how long are they going to keep asking me about my weight?' Every interview, even to my opponent, they ask, 'You think she's going to make weight?' I said, 'Man, they have so many things they can ask about, they can ask about my father, the fight, my opponent, so many things. They're always going to ask me about my weight?'" Dern said earlier this week, according to Matt Erickson of MMA Junkie.